Former RCMP intelligence officer found guilty of breaching Canada's secrets law
A jury of peers has found former RCMP official Cameron Ortis guilty on three counts of breaching Canada's secrets law for disclosing classified information to four individuals of interest in a bid to spy on adversaries.
A jury of peers has found former RCMP intelligence officer Cameron Ortis guilty on three counts of breaching Canada's secrets law.
Ortis, 51, previously pleaded not guilty to all charges in which he disclosed classified information to four individuals in a bid to spy on adversaries participating in a money laundering scheme.
A statement of agreed facts said Ortis sent "special operational information" anonymously to Vincent Ramos, chief executive of Phantom Secure Communications, Salim Henareh, Muhammad Ashraf, and Farzam Mehdizadeh.
The Crown claimed Ortis lacked authority to disclose the material in 2015 as part of a sanctioned undercover operation.
At the time, Ortis led the RCMP's Operations Research group at the time to acquire intel on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks.
The disgraced former officer told the jury he received word of a serious national security threat in September 2014 from a source and quietly devised a plan, dubbed Nudge, to entice persons of interest with classified information as bait.
He said his source informed him of an online encryption service called Tutanota that monitored communications of interest, which he intended to use.
The company that designed the software, known as Tuta, has denied any affiliation with intelligence agencies, reported CTV News.
A former intelligence director with the RCMP pleaded not guilty Tuesday to accusations he disclosed secret information to a suspect with ties to organized crime.https://t.co/hiXUP7jI3l
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) October 4, 2023
But testimony from several former and current RCMP employees revealed no one had heard of Operation Nudge except for Ortis, prompting the prosecution to characterize the former official as ‘self-serving’ and ‘reckless’ for his solo mission.
Nudge became an undocumented off-shoot of an investigation into money laundering activities by various entities associated with Altaf Khanani, a Dubai-based money service business owner.
Henareh and his companies Persepolis International and Rosco Trading, Ashraf and his company Finmark Financial, and Farzam Mehdizadeh and his firm Aria Exchange were subjects of the investigation in Canada.
However, Prosecutor Judy Kliewer described Ortis as an evasive witness who "can't be believed."
His guilty verdict on Wednesday will result in his bail being revoked, with prosecution suggesting a prison sentence of 20 or more years.
"[…] that's what we expect to see," said Kliewer.
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