Ex-cop accuses Montreal force of corruption, faking evidence

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A former organized crime investigator with the Montreal police who accused the force of corruption and fabricating evidence says he’s skeptical about the provincial police’s mandate to look into the allegations.

Giovanni Di Feo says politicians, authorities and the public need to be strong-willed to change what he claims is a culture of impunity in the Montreal police’s internal affairs department.

Di Feo, along with his former colleague Jimmy Cacchione, recently came forward claiming they were forced out of their jobs in 2013 after trying to blow the whistle on corruption in the city police.

“We had information on the fact that some people were actually fabricating information against other police officers and regular criminals,” Di Feo told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday.

“We had approached our superiors about it and we wrote a letter to internal affairs as well. This was (in 2011 and 2012) –just before we were laid off.”

Di Feo and Cacchione investigated the Mafia and Hells Angels and were also tasked with two internal probes against police officers suspected of corruption.

The two men allege members of the force’s internal affairs department embellish or fabricate evidence against lower-ranking officers who fall out of favour. Spurious investigations were then allegedly launched to obtain phone records and other surveillance warrants in order to intimidate colleagues.

The allegations, which surfaced Tuesday night in a program broadcast on Frenchlanguage network TVA, compelled the city’s police chief to ask provincial police to investigate.

Chief Philippe Pichet admitted Wednesday he’s concerned the allegations will undermine public confidence in the force.

“Citizens have to keep confidence in the police department, so it’s very important for me to take action to eliminate all grey zones around that situation,” Pichet said in an interview.

Cacchione and Di Feo were suspended without pay in June 2013 following an internal disciplinary investigation.

They later left the force after reaching amicable agreements.

The ex-officers said they hadn’t seen the evidence that prompted their removal from the force.

They claim to have consulted several documents that led them to believe that investigators from the internal affairs department fabricated the evidence against them.