Former RCMP Official Found Guilty of Leaking Secrets to Police Targets
A verdict has been reached in the trial of Cameron Ortis, the former RCMP intelligence official accused of leaking sensitive information to police targets. The jury found Ortis guilty of multiple charges, including violating the Security of Information Act, which is designed to protect Canada’s secrets. The Crown argued that Ortis had used his position within the RCMP to leak classified information in early 2015. Ortis claimed during the trial that he was acting in order to protect Canada from a perceived threat relayed by a foreign entity.
Ortis, a former civilian member of the RCMP, had pleaded not guilty to the charges in Ontario Superior Court. The prosecution alleged that he leaked special operational information to individuals such as Phantom Secure CEO Vincent Ramos, who sold encrypted cellphones to organized crime members, and Salim Henareh and Muhammad Ashraf, who were suspected of involvement in an international money-laundering network with ties to terrorists. It was further alleged that Ortis leaked reports from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and the Five Eyes, an intelligence-sharing alliance.
Evidence presented during the trial included an email in which Ortis requested $20,000 from Ramos in exchange for more intelligence. However, there was no evidence to suggest that Ortis ever received money. The former RCMP official was also accused of attempting to leak information to Farzam Mehdizadeh, whom one RCMP witness described as having connections to the most important money launderers in the world.
Throughout the trial, Ortis maintained that he was working to protect Canada and was part of a secret operation based on information from a foreign agency. He referred to this operation as OR Nudge and claimed it involved luring criminals to an encrypted email service in order to intercept their messages. However, the email service denied Ortis’s claims, calling them completely false and salacious.
Ortis testified that he did not involve anyone else from the RCMP in his plan because his foreign counterpart had shared the information under the condition of confidentiality. He also claimed that the police targets had infiltrated Canadian law enforcement agencies.
The verdict in this high-profile case has raised concerns about the security of classified information within the RCMP. Ortis, who is permanently bound to secrecy, now faces potential consequences for his actions. As the details of this trial continue to unfold, questions remain about the potential damage caused by Ortis’s leaks and the broader implications for national security.
Overall, this case highlights the delicate balance between protecting classified information and ensuring transparency within Canada’s law enforcement agencies. The implications of this verdict are far-reaching, leaving many to question how future breaches of national security can be prevented and addressed.
