Montreal police accused of fabricating evidence to silence whistleblowers

Montreal's police chief has asked Quebec provincial police to look into allegations that internal affairs investigators fabricated evidence to keep officers quiet about corruption within the force.

Philippe Pichet saidheasked hisSret du QuebeccounterpartMartin Prud'homme to conduct an independent investigation following a report Tuesday night on the French-language network TVA.

Former officers told TVA they werewhistleblowerswho were targeted by internal affairs after they had threatened to go public with allegations of corruption within the force.

Pichet said Wednesday thathe was troubled by the allegations and would take steps to "shine a light" on the situation.

Tables turned on veteran officers

Jimmy Cacchione andGiovanni Di Feo werepolice officers for decades, often working undercover while targeting Hells Angels and the Mafia.

In 2012, the officers say they launchedtheir own investigation about possible corruption within the force, looking at officers possibly receiving money from the Mafia.

"We noticed that a few individuals were committing crimes, and we notified the chief at the time, but nothing was moving," Cacchione told CBC News on Wednesday, referring to former Montreal police chief Marc Parent.

He said they metwith people and gathered new information.

By 2013, they said, theyprepared a letter to send to the public security minister and the media outlining what they had learned.

Information seized, then 'nothing happened'

The officerssaid they were called to police headquarters where they expected they would be given a chance to explain.

Instead, they said, they were suspended and told theywere being investigated by the RCMP.

"When I was suspended, that information was in my bag, so they seized it and nothing happened after that,"Cacchionesaid.

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"There was enough information in my bag to at least suspend a few individuals."

Cacchione and Di Feowere never charged, and they said disciplinary complaints against them were dropped as part of a confidentialarrangement with the force that included an agreement they would both resign in 2014.

"[Our suspension]was a direct retaliation in the sense that a lot of people were more preoccupied with their image than they were about where the organization was going," Di Feo said.

He said Parent and other high-ranking officers knew of the allegations the officers were making.

"Obviously, we had spoken to them about it, and we spoke to them about it because theyhad inquired about it in the first place," Di Feosaid.

"We believe that because we notified them two years before, that we were starting to create problems for them," Cacchionesaid.

The allegations are the latest in a series of troubling reports aboutthe police force, including revelations last fall involving the surveillance of journalists.

Response required, politicians say

Quebec's Public Security Minister MartinCoiteuxsaid the latest allegations require "an immediate response."

"This is exactly what had to be done and we will see the result of that investigation," he told reporters.

Mayor DenisCoderreechoed that view, sayingthereport was "troubling"and praisingPichetfor acting quickly.

"I am pleased with thatfact and I totally support him," Coderresaid.

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"We have to shed light on that situation and to make sure that we protect the institution, that we keep the trust of the people, and we need to make sure we have that kind of transparent process."

Task force oversight, not internal affairs

Parti Qubcois LeaderJean-Franois Lisecalled on the government to oversee the investigation, rather than have one police chief call another to request one.

Provincial police spokesmanGuy Lapointe said the investigation will be handled by a task force created specifically for this situation.

"It won't be handled by the internal affairs department," he said.

"We're aware that the population is looking for something that's going to be transparent."

The task force will include select investigators with experience in organized crime and with nolinks to the officers making the allegations, Lapointe said.

Montreal police union spokesman Andr Gendron saida"profound overhaul" of the force is needed to restore public and police confidence.

"We won't let anyone restrict their view to a few trees and not the forest," Gendron said.

Officers allege errors, fabrications

Cacchione and Di Feo said the allegations against them made by internal affairs contained several errors.

For example, Di Feo said, one internal affairs report connected him to Luigi Coretti, a businessman accused of fraud.

He said Corettihad beena friend of his for 30 years, and that was used against him.

"That was used to dirty us and find an excuse to tie us with somebody," Di Feo said.

He told TVA itwas just one of many errorsmade by internal affairs investigators.

"We have the fabrication of allegations. Once they've fabricated the allegations, they launch investigations with the goal of muzzling people who have things to say," Cacchione said.

A third officer, Roger Larivire, told TVA a similar story. He said he was targeted by internal affairs after raising concerns about problems within the force to then chief Parent in 2014.

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