Ford tried to buy video: records
Car, $5,000 may have been offered in exchange
TORONTO Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may have offered $5,000 and a car to two men trying to sell a video of him smoking what appears to be crack cocaine seven weeks before the video was revealed in the media, according to newly revealed portions of a police document.
Toronto police were in the midst of a drugs and guns probe targeting an alleged street gang when secretly recorded conversations led investigators to believe Ford not only may have known an incriminating video of him existed but also tried to buy it.
New allegations from a large police investigation also claim: ❚ One of the men suspected of peddling the “crack video” of Ford said he also had pictures of the mayor “doing the hezza,” which is a slang term for heroin; ❚ Alleged gang members said they were not afraid of the mayor turning them in to police because they had pictures of him “on the pipe”; ❚ The mayor’s close friend and occasional driver, Alexander Lisi, used purported influence over police as leverage in dealing with a gang, saying if he didn’t get his way “the mayor would put heat on Dixon,” which was the gang’s territory; ❚ The mayor’s cellphone was stolen while he was at a crack house after late-night calls were made arranging a drug delivery “because Rob Ford wants some drugs”; ❚ Lisi gave marijuana to an alleged gang member for the return of Ford’s stolen phone; ❚ Ford might have been set up by drug dealers videoing him consuming drugs knowing it could be valuable, raising the spectre of blackmail.
As well, the documents reveal that Ford’s operations director, David Price, believed that the video of Ford smoking crack could have been the motive for the murder of Anthony Smith, an alleged gangster who was seen in a photo with Ford outside a suspected Toronto crack house.
“PRICE disclosed that the cellphone containing the recording of interest belonged to the deceased; (Anthony SMITH) and that it was the motive for his murder,” the document reads.
There is no indication that the mayor played any part in Smith’s death, and it’s unclear how seriously police took this information.
The newly released portions of a sworn police affidavit filed in court are the clearest explanation yet of how Ford became entwined in an explosive and elaborate police probe that led to him being stripped of most of his powers by city council.
It offers missing pieces of the puzzle of why police pored over the minutiae of Ford’s life when he was never charged.
The impunity felt by alleged drug traffickers and potential blackmail might explain why police took the allegations so seriously.
The allegations are contained in newly revealed portions of an immense summary of a police probe into Ford and Lisi; the accuracy of the sworn affidavit has not been tested in court.
The summaries of wiretap evidence the Crown unsuccessfully fought to keep private after a legal challenge from the media, including Postmedia News, was previously blacked out when the affidavit, called an Information to Obtain, was revealed Oct. 31. Postmedia News has not independently verified the police claims.
The mayor could not immediately be reached for comment.
Police investigating alleged members of the Dixon City Bloods, a Toronto gang, received court authorization to secretly monitor phones of 59 “principal known persons.” The name of the mayor started popping up regularly in the probe, codenamed Project Traveller, the police document says, although never his voice.
In one conversation on March 27, conducted mostly in Somali, two men noted their “friend” was on television again, a reference to the mayor, police say; the men spoke of Ford being kicked out of an event for being drunk.
The conversation then segued into an apparent offer to get the Ford video, according to the document.
“Remember that day he said that in front of me,” said Mohamed Siad, 27, who was later identified as one of the men trying to sell the video.
“Yeah, he said, ‘I’ll give you 5,000 and a car.’ What the f--- is that?’” replied Siyadin Abdi, 22, according to a sworn police affidavit filed in court. (It is possible an offer, if real, may have come through an intermediary rather than the mayor.)
Siad then said he planned to meet the mayor and ask for “150,” believed to mean $150,000.
Abdi said the video could also be sold to the Star or Gawker, a U.S. website. The two media outlets later were shown the video during furtive sales pitches. But Siad said he preferred going to Ford personally instead of the media; Abdi said dealing directly with the mayor was unwise and dangerous, the document says.
The police note a call was made to the mayor’s office from Abdi’s cellphone March 18 at 10:16 p.m. There was no answer.
The police affidavit also reveals a remarkable series of calls allegedly involving the mayor, drugs, his friend and alleged gang members.
On April 19, at 8:14 p.m., Lisi called Ford and they spoke for 11 seconds, the document says. That was their last phone contact that night.
The document alleges later that night they were together at 15 Windsor Rd., a crack house, near the epicentre of the Bloods’ territory, likely arriving after midnight.
At 2:18 a.m., during a call to Liban Siyad, Abdullahi Harun said he “had Rob Ford smoking on the ‘dugga,’ ” the document says. He added he also had “so much pictures of Rob Ford doing the hezza.” Siyad said they would be valuable.
Ford realized that morning his phone was missing. Soon, Lisi was trying to get it back, police allege.
In the space of 45 minutes, Lisi called Ford’s cellphone 19 times, apparently hoping whoever had it would answer, police say.
At 11:37 a.m., Lisi called Siyad. Lisi accused Siyad and his friends of stealing the mayor’s phone.
“Rob is freaking out because he needs his phone,” Lisi told Siyad, according to police. Siyad said he would look into it. If the mayor did not get it back, Lisi allegedly threatened, “the mayor would put heat on Dixon.”
At 1:22 p.m., Lisi again called Siyad, police say. Siyad said he had the phone. They agreed to meet at a coffee shop.
Lisi said he would give him “spliffs,” a slang term for marijuana, in return, the document alleges.
The crisis seemed to be over that afternoon.
On Oct. 1, Lisi was charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of proceeds of crime, possession of marijuana and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
The next day, Ford said, “He’s a friend, he’s a good guy and I don’t throw my friends under the bus.”
On Oct. 31, the day police announced the recovery of a video of the mayor apparently smoking drugs, Lisi was further charged with extortion for alleged attempts to retrieve a digital video.
According to a different police document, it “was filmed surreptitiously in the month of February” and depicted the mayor “in a compromising intoxicated position” and “appears to show the mayor of Toronto consuming what appears to be a narcotic.”
Lisi is accused of using “threats or violence or menace” against Siad, identified as a man peddling the Ford video and who talked of the mayor offering money and a car for it, and against Siyad, the man with whom Lisi allegedly negotiated the return of the mayor’s cellphone.