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.