Cameron Ortis, a former high-ranking Canadian police official, was found guilty on Wednesday (Nov 22) of leaking secret and classified information to suspected criminals. In a historic espionage case, the jury announced its landmark ruling stating that a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intelligence official was guilty of breaching Canada’s secrets law. Notably, his case is the first time an individual was tried under Canada’s current espionage law.
The 51-year-old Ortis was director general of the RCMP national intelligence coordination unit. He was arrested in 2020 on accusations of abusing his position in order to obtain sensitive material from Canada and the strong Five Eyes intelligence collaboration, which also includes Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
Ortis then attempted to sell the information to those involved in money laundering activities for terrorist organisations on Canada’s list. He also informed an unidentified person about an undercover police who was targeting one of his acquaintances in Vancouver, which the prosecution claimed put the undercover cop in danger.
He was found guilty on all the six counts he faced, which included four under the Security of Information Act (SOIA) for leaking and trying to sell special operational information. He was also found guilty of unauthorised use of a computer and breach of trust. His bail was revoked until a sentencing hearing scheduled for January 11-12.
Prosecutor Judy Kliewer was quoted in local reports as saying that “we will be seeking a very lengthy prison term” in the range of 20 years or more. And, he is not only a “flight risk, but he’s an asset. He has so much information. This is not a usual case at all”.
The defence had sought to paint Ortis as a patriot and a dedicated member of the RCMP who acted “to confront a grave threat to Canada.”
But Kliewer urged the jury in closing arguments not to believe him when Ortis claimed: “that his criminal, self-motivated acts were aimed at some lofty and secret purpose.”
Ortis received a suspicious tip from a foreign agency in late 2014, according to redacted transcripts of his evidence, which was provided behind closed doors for security reasons.
That led him on a secret mission to use intelligence to lure criminal targets into adopting an encrypted service set up to eavesdrop on their communications.
The tip, he said, included credible information about a national security threat that he had been instructed not to share with anyone as there was concern about a possible mole within police ranks.
(with inputs from agencies)
