POLICE 'UNPLUGGED' CORRUPTION PROBE, LAWYER SAYS

Claims Against Drug Squad Were Ignored, Court Told, As Damage Control
Bid Was Under Way On Other Unit

A special task force that investigated and charged a squad of Toronto
police narcotics officers for allegedly shaking down drug dealers also
suspected another drug squad of corruption, but then-chief Julian
Fantino ignored the suspicions, a lawyer claimed in court this week.

The lawyer for Milos Markovic - a suspected drug dealer who alleges
the squad led by Det. Dan Ross stole from his safety deposit boxes -
claimed in a pre-trial motion hearing that Toronto police brass failed
to properly investigate concerns raised about the Ross squad.

Lawyer Julian Falconer said police "unplugged" the investigation of
the Markovic matter as part of a damage control campaign at the time
the notorious Det. John Schertzer crew was making headlines. "When
Chief Fantino declared there were only a few bad apples, he did not
deliver the straight goods," Falconer said in court.

Fantino, now the head of the Ontario Provincial Police, was not
available for comment.

Lawyers for the Police Services Board note in a factum presented in
court that Fantino is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, and
claim the special task force never concluded the Ross team committed
any crimes.

The police lawyers also suggest it was Markovic who stymied the
investigation by not co-operating. None of Falconer's allegations have
been proven in court.

Ross, now in a position of leadership at the police officers' union,
did not return phone calls. His lawyer, Gary Clewley, said, "(The Ross
crew) was investigated and as far as I'm concerned, cleared. Everybody
who looked at it ... said there were no grounds to charge."

Markovic is suing the police force in civil court, claiming officers
stole more than $200,000 in cash and valuables that belonged to him.
His lawyer says he obtained new documents that show police force
inaction. Whether Falconer will be allowed to include his cover-up
claims in the lawsuit is before the court. Falconer contends the
alleged cover-up contributed to his client's mental distress.

Police force spokesman Mark Pugash said Falconer's documents represent
only a small portion of all the available paperwork, which contains
contradictory statements and offers little clarity to the issue.

Meanwhile, the charges against Schertzer and his crew, after being
tossed last year due to prosecutorial delays, is back on after an
appeals court ruled several weeks ago that the delays were reasonable
and the officers should stand trial.

At the time of the Schertzer scandal, Fantino said the allegations,
while "regrettable," were "isolated and confined. The investigation
has been independent, extremely exhaustive and thorough."

After the Markovic hearing this week, Falconer suggested otherwise in
an interview with the CBC as part of an ongoing Star-CBC probe of the
matter. "The only problem is that the investigation in relation to my
client's matters was unplugged. Unplugged before Mr. Markovic could be
interviewed. .. A final report we never see until years later states
that the conduct of these (drug squad) officers is `a hair's breadth
from being criminal.'

"What if the officers are innocent? Clear them. Vindicate them. ...
You make sure one way or the other the truth is told."

Documents filed by his lawyer show Markovic was arrested, stripped and
searched, and charged, but the charges were later stayed.

In 2001, Fantino, then the newly appointed chief, struck the task
force to investigate what had become the biggest corruption scandal to
hit Toronto police, and he tapped RCMP Superintendent John Neily to
run the probe.

The alleged thefts of drug dealer money took place in the late 1990s,
before Fantino was chief. The probe was to centre on Schertzer's crew
but the task force soon widened its focus to include other officers.

In the end, the costly effort - which spanned three years and involved
interviewing hundreds of witnesses, executing dozens of search
warrants, obtaining three wiretaps and analyzing suspect officers'
finances - resulted in charges laid against Schertzer and his crew.

Further explaining his arguments in court, Falconer said in the
interview "that there was a deliberate element of concealment of the
true nature of the problems they found on the drug squads.

"The words used by Chief Superintendent Neily were that serious
criminal thefts and drug possession go beyond the Schertzer team into
the Ross team" and that the matter justified an undercover
investigation and financial audit of the officers.

"None of that happened," Falconer said.

Neily declined to comment.