Nova Scotia hacker convicted of fraudulent impersonation handed conditional discharge

HALIFAX — A judge has handed a Nova Scotia man a conditional discharge after he was convicted of hacking into a provincial government employee’s social media account and posting an antisemitic message that led to her firing.

A provincial court heard that Samual Shaji of Halifax was charged in February 2024 with fraudulently impersonating Nargis DeMolitor in October 2023.

Court documents show Shaji had been hired to manage DeMolitor’s social media accounts between January and March 2023, but the passwords for those accounts were changed after his contract ended.

At the time, DeMolitor was working for then immigration minister Jill Balser and was fired by a senior official in Premier Tim Houston's office soon after the offensive message appeared online.

DeMolitor later filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the provincial government.

The online post in question referred to Israel’s role in the Israel-Hamas war. It appeared on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In a victim impact statement, DeMolitor told Halifax provincial court in April that the antisemitic post with her name on it caused a devastating backlash that destroyed her career and reputation, while placing her personal safety at risk.

“It triggered a cascading series of consequences that to this day continue to affect my safety, reputation, health, livelihood and ability to participate fully in public and community life,” DeMolitor told the court.

“Mr. Shaji's actions assaulted and stripped away the dignity, reputation and legacy built through decades of work and through the sacrifices of my parents and ancestors.”

Prior to working as a special adviser to Balser, DeMolitor was a candidate for Progressive Conservatives in the 2021 provincial election, which the Tories won. But she failed to win the Halifax district of Clayton Park West.

She said the antisemitic post ruined her chances to return to politics.

“Shaji's conduct was intentional, calculated and targeted. He fraudulently accessed my personal social media account long after our working relationship had ended and posted highly volatile antisemitic material knowing my public role, my Muslim identity, and the foreseeable consequences.”

The court heard that Shaji, who was 25 at the time of the offence, had no criminal record and had attended Cape Breton University, where he was an engineering student.

During a sentencing hearing on June 8, provincial court Judge Alonzo Wright said he had received a number of letters of support for Shaji.

“For all intents and purposes, Mr. Shaji is of good character and this act that I found him guilty of is … out of character,” Wright said.