The OPP is taking a back-seat role in the Prject Brazen 2 probe following a dispute with Toronto police over who was the victim of extortion – the alleged drug dealer who made the video, or Mayor Rob Ford, who is pictured in the video. Toronto detectives believe the man who made the video and his associate were the victims of an extortive attempt by Ford friend Alexander Lisi and possibly others to retrieve the embarrassing video of Ford smoking crack and making racially charged and homophobic comments. The OPP detective who was asked to oversee the case saw it differently, contending that the alleged drug dealer who filmed the one-minute video may have tried to extort money from Ford.
As a result, the much talked-about Project Brazen 2 probe has been mired in dispute over the past two weeks, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation. The disagreement led to the OPP, at least for now, removing itself from the probe. OPP spokesman Sgt Pierre Chamberland: “the OPP has determined that there is no role for further investigation because to date there is no new information or evidence that has been provided to the OPP.”
TPS spokesman Mark Pugash reported that the Brazen 2 investigation is ongoing. While saying he could not discuss details of the case, he noted that the course of the investigation the Toronto detectives took has been validated by Crown attorneys and judges.
“The TPS investigation started more than a year ago, with a group of the most experienced and diligent investigators in Canada. They work very closely with an equally skilled team of Crown prosecutors. The case has been vetted by two judges. Its comprehensiveness is reinforced every time the courts release documents from the ITOs” Pugash told the Star…
One month ago the OPP assumed oversight at the request of Toronto police Chief Bill Blair…. Almost immediately, a difference of opinion arose between detectives on the two forces. The Toronto police squad’s theory, put forth by Det. Sgt Gary Giroux, a veteran homicide investigator, has long been that Ford’s friend Lisi used threats to have two men – Mohamed Siad, who filmed the video, and Lihan Siyad, a friend – turn over the video so that it would never see the light of day. Those threats by Lisi were allegedly made in a two period beginning May 26, 2013, the day the existence of the video became public…