By David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 3, 2026
A controversial charity started by a Canadian Forces officer to help Ukraine was supported by members of an investment fund team hoping to use their experience and connections from the non-profit to make money on rebuilding the war-torn nation.
KJA Digital Assets, based in Estonia, noted in its sales pitch to investors that it had co-created the Mriya Report, adding that its pro-bono support for the non-profit gave it influence with the Ukrainian government and an inside track on upcoming financial opportunities.
KJA Digital Assets created the Mriya Funds, which required investors to invest a minimum of 1 million Euros ($1.6 million). KJA Digital Asset Investments is now in bankruptcy, according to a credit notice from Dun and Bradstreet.
It is not known how much was collected for the Mriya Funds or what happened to those funds.
Axel Ludwig Jacob, chief executive of KJA Digital Assets, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Emails sent to the company bounced back and its phone in Estonia appears to no longer be functioning.
But in a Nov. 17, 2022, email to the Ottawa Citizen, Jacob stated he was a co-founder of the Mriya Report along with Canadian Forces Capt. Joseph Friedberg.
All funds collected for the Mriya Report were supposed to go to help Ukraine.
But in September 2024 most of the Mriya Report volunteers resigned, citing “various ethical concerns” about the non-profit organization. In a Jan. 1, 2026, broadcast on the social media platform X, Ryan Meyer, another Mriya Report co-founder, outlined the numerous allegations of financial improprieties surrounding the organization, which he blamed on Friedberg.
Meyer alleged some donations collected for Ukraine were instead spent on pizzas, purchases at Home Depot and Best Buy, as well as unauthorized payments to volunteers and to a convicted felon linked to Donald Trump.
Friedberg did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But in a Nov. 17, 2022, email to the Ottawa Citizen, Friedberg noted he received no money for his work with the Mriya Report and that no volunteers received funds.
Jacob, in a 2022 email to the Ottawa Citizen, also praised Friedberg as someone who “has demonstrated the highest calibre of transparency and professionalism.”
In its pitch for the Mriya Funds, KJA Digital Assets stated investors could “support the rebuilding of post-war Ukraine, and to gain outstanding investment returns.”
“The recover and development of the country we believe offers a major investment opportunity, which should be able to generate superior returns over a long period of time,” the portfolio document added.
KJA Digital Assets pointed out that by helping establish the Mriya Report, the firm and its members “developed and renewed their existing large government, military and business network in and around Ukraine.”
The sales pitch also mentioned KJA Digital Assets links to the Ottawa-based not-for-profit, Mriya Aid, which at one point involved more than a dozen Canadian Forces personnel.
Despite the investor pitch citing the Mriya Report, Jacob insisted those associated with the charity never used the organization for self-promotion. “We have always been extremely careful to not allow self-promotion — for publicity or profit — by anyone,” Jacob told the Kyiv Post, an English-language newspaper in Ukraine that has collaborated with the Mriya Report for articles. “We are committed volunteers doing this for Ukraine, and anyone who tries to steer our work in a different direction is out.”
The KJA Digital Assets portfolio was previously available to investors but has now disappeared from public domain. A copy of the private equity pitch was obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.
Ryan Meyer, also a co-founder of Mriya Report, told the Ottawa Citizen that Jacob devoted considerable time and resources to the U.S.-registered nonprofit, but he is not aware of him providing any actual funds. Meyer stated he has filed a complaint with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service asking for an investigation of what went on at the Mriya Report.
Friedberg was also associated in 2022 with Mriya Aid, the not-for-profit organization created by Lt. Col. Melanie Lake and other Canadian Forces officers.
In 2023, the Ottawa Citizen reported on allegations of mismanagement and wrongdoing associated with the Mriya Report and Mirya Aid after Ukrainians and former volunteers came forward with their concerns. The New York Times also wrote about the situation with Mriya Aid in a larger article that highlighted ongoing problems with volunteer efforts for Ukraine.
Documents obtained by the Ottawa Citizen also show that senior Canadian military leaders, including then-Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, were aware of the ongoing controversies surrounding both the Mriya Report and Mriya Aid.
Neither the Department of National Defence nor the Canadian Forces provided any funds to the Mriya Report or KJA Digital Assets, according to DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin.
The DND and the Canadian military had previously distanced itself from the Mriya Report, noting it was under no obligation to reimburse donors for any lost funds. “The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are not involved in Mriya Report, and therefore have no comment regarding any allegations about staff departures from this organization,” Poulin stated.
Posted March 8, 2026