Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
National

Former RCMP official Cameron Jay Ortis found guilty of breaching secrets law

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Nov, 2023 04:36 PM
  • Former RCMP official Cameron Jay Ortis found guilty of breaching secrets law

A jury has found former RCMP intelligence official Cameron Jay Ortis guilty of breaching Canada's secrets law.

Jurors declared Ortis guilty of three counts of violating the Security of Information Act and one count of attempting to do so in a verdict delivered on Wednesday.

They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.

Ortis, 51, had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including breaking the secrets law by revealing classified information to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance.

He testified he offered secret material to targets in a bid to get them to use an online encryption service set up by an allied intelligence agency to spy on adversaries.

The Crown argued Ortis lacked authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a sanctioned undercover operation.

Following the verdict, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger said that Ortis's bail would be revoked prior to sentencing.

Prosecutor Judy Kliewer suggested the Crown would seek a prison sentence in the range of 20 or more years, "and that's what we expect to see."

Defence lawyer Mark Ertel said he was "shocked and extremely disappointed" at the outcome. He said there would be an appeal.

"I think an innocent man has just been found guilty of six serious offences," Ertel said.

"I'm really at a loss for words, I can't believe what happened."

The defence contended that the former official did not betray Canada, but was rather acting on a "clear and grave threat."

Ortis led the RCMP's Operations Research group, which assembled and developed classified information on cybercriminals, terror cells and transnational criminal networks. 

He told the jury that in September 2014, he was contacted by a counterpart at a foreign agency who advised him of a particularly serious threat. 

Ortis said the counterpart informed him in strict confidence about an online encryption service called Tutanota that was secretly set up to monitor communications of interest.

Ortis said he then quietly devised a plan, dubbed Nudge, to entice investigative targets to sign on to the encryption service, using promises of secret material as bait.

"Cameron Ortis was not and is not an enemy to the RCMP, or to the citizens of Canada,'' defence lawyer Jon Doody told jurors.

The company, now known as Tuta, denies having ties to intelligence agencies.

Although Ortis asked one target for thousands of dollars before he would send full versions of sensitive documents, there was no evidence he received money from the individuals he contacted. 

"Was there a profit motive? Maybe," Kliewer told the jury. "It's not something the Crown has to prove.'' 

Even so, the prosecution portrayed Ortis as self-serving and reckless, flouting rules and protocols on a solo mission that sabotaged national security and even endangered the life of a genuine undercover officer.

The Crown, which called several current and former RCMP employees to testify, argued that no one other than Ortis had heard of operation Nudge and that no records of the project could be found. 

Kliewer described Ortis as an evasive witness with a selective memory, saying he simply "can't be believed."

Ortis was taken into custody in September 2019. 

The trail to his arrest began the previous year when the RCMP analyzed the contents of a laptop computer owned by Vincent Ramos, chief executive of Phantom Secure Communications, who had been apprehended in the United States. 

An RCMP effort known as Project Saturation revealed that members of criminal organizations were known to use Phantom Secure's encrypted communication devices. 

Ramos would later plead guilty to using his Phantom Secure devices to help facilitate the distribution of cocaine and other illicit drugs to countries including Canada. 

A retired RCMP investigator told the jury he found an email to Ramos from an unknown sender with portions of several documents, including mention of material from the federal anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac. 

The sender offered to provide Ramos with the full documents in exchange for $20,000. 

Ortis acknowledged in court that he was behind the communications to Ramos and others, saying it was all part of the clandestine operation involving Tutanota.

A statement of agreed facts in the case said information sent anonymously to Ramos, Salim Henareh and Muhammad Ashraf — as well as material intended for Farzam Mehdizadeh — was "special operational information" within the meaning of the Security of Information Act. 

The lengthy statement said that from at least 2014, the RCMP and multiple enforcement and intelligence agencies of Canada's close allies were investigating money laundering activities conducted by various entities associated with Altaf Khanani, a Dubai-based money service businesses owner. 

Henareh and his companies Persepolis International and Rosco Trading, Ashraf and his company Finmark Financial, and Farzam Mehdizadeh and his firm Aria Exchange were subjects of the investigation in Canada. 

In tying Ortis to the information disclosures, the Crown walked the jury through materials on a memory key seized during a search of Ortis's downtown Ottawa home upon his arrest. 

In his testimony, the former intelligence official generally played down the sensitivity of the information he shared. 

Kliewer painted a far more damaging scenario, saying the materials could allow targets to evade law-enforcement efforts and frustrate police progress against criminal networks.

MORE National ARTICLES

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold
The first major snowfall of the season could blanket higher elevations of Vancouver Island with up to 10 centimetres of snow as an eastbound rainstorm meets a westbound blast of arctic air over British Columbia's south coast. Environment Canada has posted special weather statements for inland, northern and eastern parts of Vancouver Island, warning that rain could fall as snow on the highest elevations of Highways 4, 19, 28 and the Malahat Summit as the two systems brush, although no snow was expected at sea level.

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold

Five people, including shooter, dead after shootings in Sault Ste. Marie, police say

Five people, including shooter, dead after shootings in Sault Ste. Marie, police say
Five people – including three children and a shooter – were found dead in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie after shootings at two homes, police said Tuesday, calling what happened a tragic case of intimate partner violence. Sault Ste. Marie police said the shootings that took place Monday night had left the community in deep mourning.   

Five people, including shooter, dead after shootings in Sault Ste. Marie, police say

Magnitude 3.9 quake recorded off B.C. coast, no tsunami or damage expected

Magnitude 3.9 quake recorded off B.C. coast, no tsunami or damage expected
A minor earthquake has struck off the coast of British Columbia. Earthquakes Canada says the 3.9 magnitude quake was registered just before 11:00 p.m. PDT. The epicentre was 198 kilometres west of Port Hardy, south of Vancouver Island. It was recorded at a depth of 10 kilometres. No tsunami is expected.

Magnitude 3.9 quake recorded off B.C. coast, no tsunami or damage expected

Freeland says feds will strike 'challenging' balance in fall budget update

Freeland says feds will strike 'challenging' balance in fall budget update
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday the government's fall economic statement will focus on housing and affordability within a fiscally responsible framework. "That is a challenging balance to strike. Our government is committed to doing it," she said.  The federal government's financial statements were published Tuesday, revealing the deficit for the 2022-23 fiscal year came in at $35.3 billion. 

Freeland says feds will strike 'challenging' balance in fall budget update

BC's final cruise ship sets sail today

BC's final cruise ship sets sail today
Big numbers are being reported for B-C's cruise industry. The Port of Vancouver says its final cruise ship of the 2023 season is setting sail today. It says the 2023 cruise season in Vancouver has been the port's biggest season on record, with an estimated 1.25-million passengers this year.

BC's final cruise ship sets sail today

Israel increases strikes on Gaza ahead of expected ground invasion

Israel increases strikes on Gaza ahead of expected ground invasion
Israel has escalated its bombardment of targets in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion against Hamas militants.  The stepped-up attacks, and the rapidly rising death toll in Gaza, came as Hamas released two elderly Israeli women who were among the hundreds of hostages it captured during its devastating attacks on towns in southern Israel earlier this month.

Israel increases strikes on Gaza ahead of expected ground invasion