Saturday, May 14, 2005

Laundry, Food and the RCMP

Update June 8 '05: I attempted to contact the RCMP Media Communications branch in Ottawa back in May to get help finding a public press release on their website regarding Commissioner Zaccardelli's press conference of organized crime infiltrating the Canadian government.

After a rather rude response by their communications department officer telling me to look for it myself because he was heading off to Haiti the next day, a call to Zacardelli's office encouraged the officer to clarify the information mentioned in the Ottawa Citizen's article: "As for the article dated September 8, 2000, the comments came from operational reports. They are not available for public consumption. Your only alternative is to make a request to Access to Information & Privacy (ATIP) at 993-5162."

He also forwarded a link to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC). The only report I could find at the time of Zaccardelli's press release was this 2002 report which cited only developing countries that would experience infiltration of organized crime, not Canada. But have a perusal for yourself through the other reports, maybe someone else will find something that I couldn't.

Morselli's catering company Buffet Trio has the contract to feed officers at the RCMP headquarters in Montreal and at the federal tax centre in Shawinigan.

The RCMP Musical Ride was given $3 million in dollars from laundered AdScam money as pointed out in the Auditor General's report. In reply to the audit the RCMP investigated itself and found a change in their accounting procedures. In the Conclusion of their on-line report states: "It is during this period that the Journal Voucher binders were inadvertently lost."

Inadvertently lost? The RCMP?

In this RCMP online report: "The audit report also states that during their visit, auditors “were explained that the supporting documents had been destroyed in accordance with records policy, which provides a two-year retention period for documents dealing with ‘ceremonies and celebrations’. However, still according to the same policy guidelines, these documents should have been kept for six years, since they included financial information, e.g. invoices

The RCMP's reply: "Unfortunately, some files that included invoices were destroyed for the above-mentioned reasons."

What happened to Commissioner Zaccardelli's 2000 news conference concerns about criminal groups "focusing on Parliament, the courts and other institutions with the aim of 'destabilizing' the political system"? Are those 'other institutions' the RCMP itself?

As the 2003 Auditor's Report states: "The role of Parliament was not respected"

Item 3.100: Not only was Parliament not informed about the real objectives of the Sponsorship Program, it was misinformed about how the program was being managed. The parliamentary process was bypassed to transfer funds to Crown corporations. Funds appropriated by Parliament to PWGSC were used to fund the operations of Crown corporations and of the RCMP
. "

Let's not forget what the article in the Ottawa citizen says: "$3 million of sponsorship loot, much of it laundered through a secret RCMP non-government bank account in Quebec"

This article from CTV points out that the RCMP may not be able to investigate into the Quebec Adscam because of it's conflict of interest at being implicated. "The Mounties are mulling over advice received Tuesday from the Quebec attorney general's office on whether the police force would be in a conflict of interest by continuing the probe."

I found some of the information intriguing on the United States Federal Bureau of investigations website on organized crime, labor racketeering and mobstocks:

1) In the late 1950's the FBI "found systemic racketeering in the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HEREIU)." I found this interesting because Morselli has his Buffet Trio supplying the Montreal RCMP with food. I wonder if they are unionized?

2) In 1986 "the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) were dominated by organized crime." This is interesting to me because LIUNA has bought a number of properties in Hamilton. The most recent one is the Lister Block. They have managed to get the City of Hamilton to rent out a portion of the building.

3) In the early 1980's " former Gambino Family Boss Paul Castellano was overheard saying, "Our job is to run the unions." " This one is intriguing to me because of these posts.

The FBI states: "Labor Racketeering has become one of the LCN's fundamental sources of profit, national power, and influence."

"The damage to society resulting from these criminal organizations and their influence on labor unions, political institutions, financial markets, and major industries is immeasurable."

An interesting note is this report on Money Laundering in Canada from the Nathanson Centre on the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption. This link gives a simple explanation of the process of money laundering and some of the prominent methods to launder money. The Nathanson Centre report lists a majority of areas to money launder in Canada are through real estate transactions, through the insurance industry or through the banking industry.

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

perhaps its time that canadians picked up the registered firearms that they own and head for ottawa to throw these bums out. corruption at the highest level of goverment, police force, and justice system cannot and should not be tollerated any further

15/5/05 10:56 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It'd be better if we picked up the unregistered ones. It'd be that much sweeter.

15/5/05 11:43 p.m.  
Blogger bob said...

H.R.,

The NYDN report on Gagliano gains credibility from the history of the Bonanno family, based on a number of Mafia-related books I've read. It was the only one of the five New York City families to have a real interest/involvement north of the border. Family patriarch Joseph Bonanno (the late, but not lamented, Joe Bananas) had legitimate business interests in Montreal and reputedly hid out there for a couple of years during some of the usual family battles in the 1950s. Carmine Galante, the heroin-dealing Bonanno thug whose murder was a key to the Commission prosecution that led Rudy Giuliani to fame, also spent a lot of time in Montreal, which was said to be a conduit for the heroin trade at that time (this goes back 25-30 years; whether that's still valid today, I don't begin to know).
According to a variety of sources I've read, LIUNA's ties to organized crime come from the Chicago family (the one Al Capone ran in his heyday). Chicago was far more efficient at union infiltration on a much wider scale than the New York families. The Teamsters-mob ties were cemented via Chicago; same with LIUNA.
I've not read much about Ontario and the Mafia/Cosa Nostra, but I do know that the Buffalo family, which was independent until the 70s, is now no more than a satellite of the northeastern Pennsylvania family, which itself is a semi-independent satellite of the Genovese family of New York. Detroit's family is still somewhat independent, but is closely linked to Chicago.

16/5/05 11:28 a.m.  
Blogger HR said...

Thanks for the info Bob. I actually didn't know Detroit had a family. The books you read, were they cited with credible FBI sources?
Perhaps you have an FBI or State Department link? Those would be cool.

I always like to have formal sources not just media reports.

16/5/05 2:29 p.m.  
Blogger HR said...

I also want to make this point:

I am not a Libertarian nor side with one political party or another. The author of Habamus Rodentum does not condone violence of any sort as justification to rid a country of a corrupt government for example.

As the new cliche goes: "The keyboard is mightier than the assault rifle"

and I use Charter right s. 2 (b) to make my point:

"Everyone has the fundamental right to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and OTHER MEDIA OF COMMUNICATION."

It's important for me to say this because I have deep feelings of respect for any police officer or security person putting their lives and safety on the line to protect Canadians.

Although there are many issues I have with respect to equality of protection under Charter s.15, which ALL police forces in Canada have to uphold and in particular the Ontario Police Serives Act, which must, as part of its 6 principles, adhere to the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it doesn't mean a whole system is shot (no pun intended)

It this lack of protection for many people or the perception thereof, that many Canadians become cynical and untrustworthy of our institutions. If allowed to go unheaded by the powers that be, then that cyncism turns into anger.

Once the powers that be start to abuse that anger and turn it back on the people, using that very anger against them, it either a) turns into violence or b) people turn it against themselves and psychological manifestations occur.

Education, knowledge and tools to communicate to others is the better empowerment tool, especially when our "elected" officials in Canada have stopped listening to the electorate, as they have done LONG ago.

Let's face it, our federal system is far too big to manage effectively without making changes to it, but change does not happen at the end of a gun barrel or other types of violence. It happens with a RESPECT FOR LAW AND ENFORCEMENT of it without two-tier policing and penality systems. If politicians perpetrate the same crime they should recieve equal sentencing as those handed out to other Canadians with equal vehement by the judges.

16/5/05 3:00 p.m.  
Blogger bob said...

The reports are absolutely credible. As for links, it's a little dicey because so much is scattered about. I would refer you to any number of texts, including, but not limited to, mob boss Joe Bonanno's autobiography, A Man of Honor; Donnie Brasco by Joe Pistone (ex-FBI agent who went undercover); Man Against the Mob by the late Wm. F. Roemer Jr. (ex-FBI agent in Chicago); for more historic data online, http://www.americanmafia.com/
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/lcn/lcn.htm and http://www.crimelibrary.com.
Pax.

20/5/05 12:11 p.m.  
Blogger HR said...

thanks for the links Bob. I found the Gagliano reports in New Yrok News I posted from americanmafia

Ths city I live in is or was, well known for its mafia ties, next to Montreal. The way things are run in many areas of the City ie lack of professionalism, ethics, rule of law, makes me wonder sometimes. I seemed to run into alot of crazy stuff and I haven't lived here that long. It's very different than any other city I've lived in Ontario, I don't really know what to make of it. So I just call it Planet Hamilton. Of course Tony Valeri is from here...perhaps that might explain some things?

20/5/05 11:48 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Isn't Zacardelli an Italian name, and doesn't he come from Montreal ?

9/9/06 4:23 p.m.  

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