Corruption probe envelops another McCormack
son
By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - Page A1
TORONTO -- Another of former Toronto police chief Bill
McCormack's sons is under investigation for alleged wrongdoing.
The Globe and Mail has confirmed that Mike McCormack, who is now a director with the Toronto Police Association, is being probed by the force's internal affairs unit over alleged connections to a used-car dealership that police suspect was being run as a money-laundering front and as a terminal for stolen cars destined for black markets overseas.
The police association board, The Globe has confirmed, has been made aware of the investigation involving Mr. McCormack, who is their director of uniform administrative services.
Only Sunday night, the association's new president, Rick McIntosh, temporarily stepped aside pending the results of a separate internal investigation in which he is alleged to be implicated.
Mr. McCormack is the younger brother of Billy McCormack Jr., who last week was suspended with pay amid other allegations of wrongdoing.
The board yesterday issued a press release praising Mr. McIntosh for "the honourable manner in which he has conducted himself" by volunteering to step aside.
Mike McCormack was elected to the board last October in the same election in which Mr. McIntosh coasted to the president's office.
Contacted last night and asked about the probe involving him, Mr. McCormack said, "That's something I don't want to comment on right now," adding, "You understand the pressure my family's under right now."
That was a reference to his brother's situation.
Billy McCormack is a 28-year veteran of the force, much of it with the plainclothes squad in the downtown 52 Division.
Billy McCormack is being investigated in connection with allegations of involvement in a police protection scheme in the central entertainment district in which bars paid off officers, who would in turn tip them about pending enforcement activities.
Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino, who ordered that the entire plainclothes squad - 12 officers and two supervisors - be disbanded the same night Mr. McCormack was suspended, yesterday told reporters he fully expects that investigation to result in both criminal and Police Act charges and that he has asked internal affairs to conclude it as soon as possible.
Chief Fantino said he was disappointed and saddened, and pledged he will not tolerate unprofessional behaviour or "corrupt practices." Though he wouldn't divulge the number of officers under investigation in the downtown probe, he said only one officer (Billy McCormack) has been suspended, and that "the problem is confined to a small area" of the huge 7,000-member force.
He said he had also spoken to William McCormack, who served as Toronto chief from 1989 to 1995, but that the conversation is private.
Asked how he felt about a son of the former chief being under investigation, Chief Fantino winced and said, "That's a question that provides a self-answer. What do you want me to do, get out the crying towel? The answer is it's a sad state of affairs for everyone."
But the situation has grown even sadder and more tawdry with the revelation that Mike McCormack is also under a cloud.
The man to whom he was allegedly linked was Jeffery Allan Geller.
Mr. Geller, 35, died March 29 at North York General Hospital of multiple organ failure caused by a drug overdose.
His was the rags-to-riches story of a man who started off in the car business as a high-school student doing detailing and rose to become the owner of several auto leasing and marketing businesses.
Mr. Geller owned Exclusive Auto Marketing Inc. and a principal in Exclusively Yours Leasing Inc., but was stripped of his licence by the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, the self-governing body for Ontario's 30,000 registered car dealers and sales personnel.
Documents obtained by The Globe don't make it clear why Mr. Geller originally lost his licence, only that he did, and that he had applied for reinstatement when, in May, 2001, OMVIC received a complaint about him from a St. Catharines, Ont., dealership.
The complaint, described as "very serious," showed that five of the cars leased by Exclusive Auto were stolen. As a result, OMVIC decided not to reinstate Mr. Geller as a salesman, a decision he appealed to the provincial Licence Appeal Tribunal, where it was heard last April.
It was important, a Globe source says, for Mr. Geller to get his licence back, so that the operation could again be used to recycle stolen cars; it was allegedly at his shop where vehicle identification numbers on the stolen cars would be switched.
At the hearing, tribunal records show, Detective-Constable McCormack, as he was before winning a seat on the police union board, appeared to testify on behalf of Mr. Geller, whom he said he had known for eight years.
Although he told presiding member Richard Delaney that he was appearing as a private citizen, Mr. McCormack identified himself as a police officer and said his beat was in street crime at 51 Division (the downtown division adjacent to 52, where his brother Billy worked), and testified that while he knew Mr. Geller was a drug addict who was under "pressure from organized criminals," Mr. Geller "had learned from his mistakes and was mending his ways."
Two other Toronto officers, Nick Morris and Michael Thompson, also testified in Mr. Geller's support, the records show. Mr. Thompson said that Mr. Geller had been involved in organized crime, and Mr. Morris said that although Mr. Geller's drug use had ended their friendship, he had already bought two cars from him, and would buy another.
Mr. Geller also testified, and blamed the deaths of his parents and his drug addiction for many of his problems. He admitted being connected with bikers, and said that though he failed to disclose pending criminal charges in his reinstatement application, it had been a mistake.
The tribunal refused to reinstate him in a June 13 decision last year citing his criminal conviction for theft over $5,000 and his failure to declare it.
It was after that, Globe sources say, that another Toronto officer allegedly began pestering OMVIC to register Mr. Geller despite the refusal, and an official alerted internal affairs.
Neither of the McCormack brothers nor Mr. McIntosh has been charged.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20040420.TBLATCHFORD20/TPStory
The Globe and Mail has confirmed that Mike McCormack, who is now a director with the Toronto Police Association, is being probed by the force's internal affairs unit over alleged connections to a used-car dealership that police suspect was being run as a money-laundering front and as a terminal for stolen cars destined for black markets overseas.
The police association board, The Globe has confirmed, has been made aware of the investigation involving Mr. McCormack, who is their director of uniform administrative services.
Only Sunday night, the association's new president, Rick McIntosh, temporarily stepped aside pending the results of a separate internal investigation in which he is alleged to be implicated.
Mr. McCormack is the younger brother of Billy McCormack Jr., who last week was suspended with pay amid other allegations of wrongdoing.
The board yesterday issued a press release praising Mr. McIntosh for "the honourable manner in which he has conducted himself" by volunteering to step aside.
Mike McCormack was elected to the board last October in the same election in which Mr. McIntosh coasted to the president's office.
Contacted last night and asked about the probe involving him, Mr. McCormack said, "That's something I don't want to comment on right now," adding, "You understand the pressure my family's under right now."
That was a reference to his brother's situation.
Billy McCormack is a 28-year veteran of the force, much of it with the plainclothes squad in the downtown 52 Division.
Billy McCormack is being investigated in connection with allegations of involvement in a police protection scheme in the central entertainment district in which bars paid off officers, who would in turn tip them about pending enforcement activities.
Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino, who ordered that the entire plainclothes squad - 12 officers and two supervisors - be disbanded the same night Mr. McCormack was suspended, yesterday told reporters he fully expects that investigation to result in both criminal and Police Act charges and that he has asked internal affairs to conclude it as soon as possible.
Chief Fantino said he was disappointed and saddened, and pledged he will not tolerate unprofessional behaviour or "corrupt practices." Though he wouldn't divulge the number of officers under investigation in the downtown probe, he said only one officer (Billy McCormack) has been suspended, and that "the problem is confined to a small area" of the huge 7,000-member force.
He said he had also spoken to William McCormack, who served as Toronto chief from 1989 to 1995, but that the conversation is private.
Asked how he felt about a son of the former chief being under investigation, Chief Fantino winced and said, "That's a question that provides a self-answer. What do you want me to do, get out the crying towel? The answer is it's a sad state of affairs for everyone."
But the situation has grown even sadder and more tawdry with the revelation that Mike McCormack is also under a cloud.
The man to whom he was allegedly linked was Jeffery Allan Geller.
Mr. Geller, 35, died March 29 at North York General Hospital of multiple organ failure caused by a drug overdose.
His was the rags-to-riches story of a man who started off in the car business as a high-school student doing detailing and rose to become the owner of several auto leasing and marketing businesses.
Mr. Geller owned Exclusive Auto Marketing Inc. and a principal in Exclusively Yours Leasing Inc., but was stripped of his licence by the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, the self-governing body for Ontario's 30,000 registered car dealers and sales personnel.
Documents obtained by The Globe don't make it clear why Mr. Geller originally lost his licence, only that he did, and that he had applied for reinstatement when, in May, 2001, OMVIC received a complaint about him from a St. Catharines, Ont., dealership.
The complaint, described as "very serious," showed that five of the cars leased by Exclusive Auto were stolen. As a result, OMVIC decided not to reinstate Mr. Geller as a salesman, a decision he appealed to the provincial Licence Appeal Tribunal, where it was heard last April.
It was important, a Globe source says, for Mr. Geller to get his licence back, so that the operation could again be used to recycle stolen cars; it was allegedly at his shop where vehicle identification numbers on the stolen cars would be switched.
At the hearing, tribunal records show, Detective-Constable McCormack, as he was before winning a seat on the police union board, appeared to testify on behalf of Mr. Geller, whom he said he had known for eight years.
Although he told presiding member Richard Delaney that he was appearing as a private citizen, Mr. McCormack identified himself as a police officer and said his beat was in street crime at 51 Division (the downtown division adjacent to 52, where his brother Billy worked), and testified that while he knew Mr. Geller was a drug addict who was under "pressure from organized criminals," Mr. Geller "had learned from his mistakes and was mending his ways."
Two other Toronto officers, Nick Morris and Michael Thompson, also testified in Mr. Geller's support, the records show. Mr. Thompson said that Mr. Geller had been involved in organized crime, and Mr. Morris said that although Mr. Geller's drug use had ended their friendship, he had already bought two cars from him, and would buy another.
Mr. Geller also testified, and blamed the deaths of his parents and his drug addiction for many of his problems. He admitted being connected with bikers, and said that though he failed to disclose pending criminal charges in his reinstatement application, it had been a mistake.
The tribunal refused to reinstate him in a June 13 decision last year citing his criminal conviction for theft over $5,000 and his failure to declare it.
It was after that, Globe sources say, that another Toronto officer allegedly began pestering OMVIC to register Mr. Geller despite the refusal, and an official alerted internal affairs.
Neither of the McCormack brothers nor Mr. McIntosh has been charged.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20040420.TBLATCHFORD20/TPStory