Two investigators of the UPAC suspended from their duties

Alexandre Robillard

Thursday, march 8, 2018 22:11

UPDATE
Thursday, march 8, 2018 22:11

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Two investigators from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) have been suspended from their duties at the UPAC in connection with a criminal investigation, has learned our Bureau of investigation.

This information is derived from a request for access to information to the SQ, to the effect that they continue to receive their salary. “There are two members who have been relieved of their duties, with pay, for an indefinite period for the purposes of criminal investigations,” says the document.

The first officer has been suspended on the 1st of September and the second on October 23, said a spokesperson for the SQ, Martine Asselin.

Ms. Asselin has not given details on the subject of the criminal investigation that led to these suspensions. “It is an ongoing investigation so we can’t say it,” she said in an interview.

The spokesperson has not been able to reveal the identity of the two persons referred to or to say if they are seen or not as suspects.

The second suspension was decided two days before a large-scale operation of the Unité permanente anti-corruption (UPAC), the 25 October, as part of an investigation into leaks of information to police in the media.

Several raids were carried out, which in the investigator SQ Stéphane Bonhomme. Mr. Man, who was loaned to the UPAC as several other of his colleagues, said that he had been suspended, without pay, on the 25th of October and not 23 October.

The liberal mna Guy Ouellette has been arrested by UPAC in the framework of this operation on October 25. No charges have been brought against him.

Abuse of trust

A police source, who requested anonymity, told our Bureau of investigation that a SQ police officer on loan to the UPAC has been suspended from his duties “at the end of the summer” final.

Investigators of the UPAC have ” suggested to the Director of criminal and penal prosecutions to lay charges of breach of trust against the person “, is there shown.

In January, the commissioner of UPAC, Robert Lafreniere, halted the investigation into the leaks due to the legal debate on the parliamentary immunity which Mr. Ouellette could benefit.

The request for access to the information also reveals that a civilian employee has been suspended with pay from his duties with the UPAC, in addition to the two police officers, a date which is not specified.

This action was taken ” for the purposes of an administrative investigation and for a period of less than 30 days “.