Farah Damji (born 9 October 1966), also known as Farah Dan, is a Uganda-born criminal, with multiple convictions pertaining to fraud and stalking, in the United States, South Africa, and United Kingdom.
Early life
Damji was born in Uganda in 1966, to a multi-millionaire property developer Amir Damji and moved with her family to London in 1970. She is the niece of journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Amir's sister); who refers to her niece's childhood in her autobiography No Place Like Home. Damji has a borderline personality disorder and suffered addictions to cocaine and alcohol. She is married and has two children.
Life in the United States
Between 1993 and 1995, Damji ran an art gallery in Manhattan and East Hampton. At that time, she rented an apartment for herself. She gave the landlord a cheque she had received for $20, which she had altered to $20,000; when the cheque bounced, the landlord obtained an eviction order and seized her belongings. Damji then forged the signature of the judge assigned to the case and amended the order so that she could get her belongings back.
In October 1995, Damji was sentenced to six months in Rikers Island prison, in New York, for those crimes and other crimes related to her art gallery: five counts of grand larceny, possession of a forged instrument, and altering official records. She was also ordered to pay $72,000 to her major victims and given four years' probation.
During the time Damji was on probation, she allegedly committed other crimes; when a warrant for her arrest was subsequently issued, she fled the U.S.
Damji then went to South Africa; there, she committed further financial crimes, for which she was deported.
Life in the United Kingdom
Damji then returned to the United Kingdom. There, she founded, and became the publisher and editor of, the lifestyle magazine Another Generation (originally named Indobrit), which folded after nine issues and a high court intellectual property case which she lost as the name ‘Indobrit’ was coined and registered as a trademark by Dr.Anjoom Mukadam. Dozens of writers, photographers, and other contributors to the magazine were either not paid for their work or given cheques that bounced. During this time, she also wrote articles for mainstream and ethnic media, including a regular column in the Birmingham Post, an article in New Statesman, and an article in The Observer.
In October 2002, Damji stole a credit card from her nanny; she then ran up a bill on the card totaling £3,903. She was arrested for that, and then released on bail. While out on bail, she stole another credit card from her business assistant; she then ran up a bill on the card totaling £1,030. She was arrested for that, and then released on bail again. In 2004, while out on bail, she stole another credit card and ran up bills on the card; she also committed other thefts.
The trial, for the crimes committed during 2002–2004, was originally scheduled to be held in February 2005. Before the trial, however, Damji telephoned the main prosecution witness and, pretending to be from the Crown Prosecution Service, she told the witness that he did not need to attend court; consequently, the witness did not turn up, and so the trial had to be adjourned. While the trial was adjourned, Damji stole more credit cards and committed further crimes.
On 14 May 2005, Damji was arrested, and this time bail was refused. Afterwards, a trial was held, and it concluded on 13 October 2005. Damji pleaded guilty to six counts of theft, 11 counts of obtaining property or services by deception, and two counts of perverting the course of justice. The thefts totaled about £50,000. Damji was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. The judge in the trial described her as "thoroughly dishonest and manipulative".
Damji was temporarily released from Downview Prison, on 22 July 2006, to attend a meeting with her Open University tutor, but did not return as required that same day. She was re-arrested by police five days later, on 27 July.
While Damji was in prison, she began writing her autobiography; she finished the writing shortly after her release. The book was eventually published, in July 2009, under the title Try Me. In the book, Damji claims to have been rehabilitated and put her criminal past behind her.