RCMP settle lawsuit, apologize to B.C. woman acquitted of human smuggling

VANCOUVER — The RCMP have settled a lawsuit and apologized for making what they describe as improper comments about a West Vancouver woman accused and later acquitted of human smuggling.

Police spokesman Supt. Sean Sullivan says the RCMP recognize that public statements made against Mumtaz Ladha over the course of the criminal investigation were improper and they apologize unreservedly.

Ladha settled a lawsuit nearly three weeks ago against the Mounties for negligent investigation and defamation.

In a statement released by her lawyer, Ladha says she sees the RCMP’s apology as the end of a “terrible saga’’ and she looks forward to resuming her normal life with her reputation fully restored. Ladha was accused in 2011 of human trafficking and human smuggling after she brought a young Tanzanian woman to Canada to work in her multimillion-dollar West Vancouver home. Ladha also settled a lawsuit against B.C.’s civil forfeiture office last year, accusing it of relying on the RCMP’s misleading investigation to file a “negligent and malicious claim’’ on the family’s home, worth about $3 million at the time.