OPP corruption probe widens

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OPP corruption probe widens

Postby Thomas » Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:25 am

Alleged corruption, obstruction

A two-year probe into shocking allegations of corruption and obstruction of justice has so far landed five people in legal hot water, including a 28-year veteran of the OPP and the latest casualty, high-profile Toronto businessman Frank D'Angelo.

As investigators continue to widen their net, casting a shadow over Ontario's legal system, they're not ready to rule out the possibility of more arrests.

"We'll go where the evidence takes us," Det.-Insp. Phil George, of the OPP's criminal investigations branch, said yesterday outside a Brampton court after one of his fellow officers appeared for a bail hearing.

Sgt. Mike Rutigliano, 49, first appeared on radar during another investigation. But since then police have accumulated a lengthy list of his alleged wrongdoings.

'ASTOUNDED'

"I'm astounded," George said of the allegations and the fact an officer of the law is at the centre of it all.

Ontario's attorney general has taken the unusual step of bringing in a special prosecutor from outside the province and asking former integrity commissioner Coulter Osborne to monitor the proceedings.

Rutigliano was first accused of paying off two pals at Bombardier in order to secure about $15 million in contracts for Aero-One Technical Solutions, an aircraft repair company in Mississauga that he operates on the side.

'SECRET COMMISSIONS'

Rutigliano, his business associate Lynda Viola, 46, and two former Bombardier workers, Maurice Clark, 46, and Barry Pierson, 56, were taken into custody earlier this week on charges of conspiracy, fraud, laundering the proceeds of crime, and corruptly giving and receiving "secret commissions."

After the arrests, it was learned Rutigliano also faces charges of breach of trust and obstructing justice for allegedly using his position in the OPP's court case management section to assist two people facing criminal charges.

In court documents filed by the OPP, Rutigliano is accused of helping fraudster Peter Mavroudis and D'Angelo, a former beer magnate, "avoid prosecution."

Crown attorney Domenic Basile is also named in the papers as an "unindicted co-conspirator," a designation that means he hasn't been charged but allegedly has some involvement.

Mavroudis, 50, sold bogus Leafs and Raptors tickets throughout the GTA and was on the run from the law for a year, but he pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January and is now serving four years in prison.

D'Angelo, 50, who once owned Steelback Brewery, was accused of sexual assault after a friend's 22-year-old daughter said he forced himself on her in a Yorkdale Holiday Inn hotel room in 2007. He said the sex was consensual.

D'Angelo was found not guilty just last month by Justice John Hamilton, who admitted both the accused and the alleged victim were believable.

However, the flamboyant businessman was arrested yesterday and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice as well as obstructing justice.

D'Angelo, Viola, Clark and Pierson have all now been released from custody pending trial. But Rutigliano will remain behind bars for a least another week.

The hearing resumes Friday.

CHRIS.DOUCETTE@SUNMEDIA.CA

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2009/ ... 6-sun.html
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Re: OPP corruption probe widens

Postby Thomas » Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:51 pm

OPP officer charged with discreditable conduct

ORILLIA – A veteran Ontario Provincial Police officer at the centre of a criminal corruption scandal has been charged with discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act.

The charge relates to a 2002 meeting in Montreal that OPP Sgt. Mike Rutigliano "arranged and attended with members and associates of the Rizzuto traditional crime group, regarding a jewellery store in Woodbridge, Ontario," says the particulars of allegations.

"When questioned on or about February 19, 2004 as to your relationship with Vito Rizzuto, you provided false and misleading answers stating, 'I do not know the man, I have never met the man, I have never spoken to the man, I have never communicated with the man either in writing or electronically, nor have I ever had any association with him, directly, or indirectly'."

Rizzuto is considered Canada's top mob boss and is currently serving a prison sentence in the United States in connection with gangland killings.

In October 2002, when the Montreal meeting is alleged to have occurred, Rutigliano was working out of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission, where he had been since 1996.

The 50-year-old sergeant, who is suspended from the force, made his first appearance this morning at the OPP's general headquarters.

He declined to comment.

Insp. Charles Young asked the matter be put over until Sept. 28 at which time an "external prosecutor" will have been appointed and prepared to proceed.

Outside headquarters, Toronto defence lawyer Owen Wigderson said his client is not guilty of the charges though no plea was entered today.

"The timing of these allegations is certainly thought-provoking," Wigderson said.

"But until all of these cases are over everything that I have to say in my client's defence is going to be said in a courtroom."

Earlier this year, Rutigliano was released on bail after he was charged with corruption and obstruction of justice offences in connection with three separate investigations.

Rutigliano, who joined the provincial service in 1981, was working as the OPP's court case manager within the Toronto court system when the offences allegedly occurred.

In one set of charges, Rutigliano is alleged to have interfered in the sexual assault prosecution of former Steelback Brewery CEO Frank D'Angelo.

D'Angelo was acquitted of assaulting a business associate's 22-year-old daughter. He has been charged with obstruction of justice and attempt to obstruct justice.

In 2004, Rutigliano was found guilty under the PSA of discreditable conduct for making a threat to a former business associate.

Two years earlier, York Regional Police charged Rutigliano with "threat to property," though the charge was withdrawn and the file relating to the matter destroyed.

The OPP officer is also charged with an alleged $15 million fraud targeting Bombardier Inc.

In a third set of charges, Rutigliano is charged with helping Peter Mavroudis, a con artist who has thrice been convicted of taking money in return for non-existent tickets to Maple Leafs games, "avoid prosecution in Ontario."

http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/art ... le-conduct
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