Ottawa police officers charged in tow-truck kickback scheme resign from force

Two Ottawa police officers charged with corruption offences in a tow-truck kickback scheme have resigned as police officers and have had all but one of their criminal charges stayed by a Crown prosecutor.

Constables Andrew Chronopoulos and Kevin Putinski appeared in court Friday afternoon for the resolution to their criminal case and the end of their short careers as police officers. Both havebeen suspended with pay since April 2020 when they were first charged by the RCMP's anti-corruption unit in a nearly yearlong probe.

Chronopoulos and Putinski both faced charges of breach of trust and secret commissions. Putinski was also charged with committing fraud under $5,000.

Putinski pleaded guilty Friday to one count of fraud for filing a fake insurance claim and was given a conditional discharge of 18 months of probation by Ontario Court Justice Robert Wadden, who accepted a joint prosecution and defence submission on sentencing. All other criminal charges were stayed in exchange for their resignations.

In identical statements they read to the court, both Chronopoulos and Putinski admitted to selling tips on collision locations to tow truck operators to give them a "competitive edge," said they were each one of "multiple police officers" to do so and said they "accept and acknowledge" their actions were breaches of trust.

Crown Attorney Jason Nicol toldcourt the officers' misconduct was on the low end of the spectrum of police corruption.

There are two unresolved pre-trial motions for the remaining officers accused in the project, Nicol said a Jordan application arguing unconstitutional delay in proceedings that's scheduled for Monday and a Garofoli motion to determine whether all the intercepted private communications in the RCMP case were legally obtained.

If either motions were successful, the Crown's cases against all accused would be impacted, he said.

"The bottom line is that this resolution does hold both accused to account particularly in light of the possibility that their future employment as a police officer is now moot," Nicol said.

"Like all resolutions, it involves compromises by both the Crown and the defence, but given the factors that I have noted, in my view, it is an appropriate and fair disposition for both accused."

Nicol said both men have provided statements to investigators about their involvement in the scheme and both men are expected to testify against the remaining co-accused in the project.

Putinski's defence lawyer Tony Paciocco told court that the resignations mean the officers cease collecting their police pay while suspended.

Ottawa police confirmed their resignations in a statement to CBC News.

The resignations "were accepted and then immediately processed," a spokesperson said.

"They are no longer members of the OPS."

Project OWrecker

The Mounties began investigating Chronopoulos and Putinski's Ottawa police colleague Const. Hussein Assaad in July 2019.

As part of their corruption probe into Assaad, called Project OWrecker, RCMP were running wiretaps on Assaad and Ottawa United Towing tow truck operator Jason Ishraki's phones and personal communications.

In the spring of 2020, Putinski was a uniformed police officer with "about three years of service," Nicol said.

On March 7 of the same year, Putinski was in a collision in Orlans with his personal vehicle a white BMW SUV. He filed a police report with his own force with details of the collision, Nicol told the court.

Putinski's fraud charge stems from his handling of the collision. Putinski's vehicle was damaged, but police determined the other driver was at-fault and charged that driver for an improper lane change.

He drove away from the scene of the crash with his car intact.

The next day, Nicol said, Putinski texted Ishraki, whose communications were being intercepted,about the accident.

Putinski told Ishraki the vehicle hadn't been towed and that he was in the process of submitting an insurance claim.

Ishraki told Putinski he'd give the officer either $75 or $100 of the tow bill if they submitted a tow bill to insurancesaying the vehicle wasn't driveable and had to be towed, Nicol said. Putinski did just that.

"Jason Ishraki was the genesis for this idea and this fraud," Nicol told court. "Unfortunately, Mr. Putinski made the very poor decision to go along with it and for very little money. This has obviously had a devastating consequence on his life."

The wiretaps continued to pick up planning of the fraud, while surveillance officers working the project were watching Putinski's home and Ishraki's tow yard for movements.

The total payout for the fraud was $1,273.51. As part of Friday's resolution, Putinskialso donated $1,000 to CHEO, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa.

Charges against two of the three civilians originally charged in the investigation were withdrawn by the prosecution in March 2021.

Assaad and Ishraki are scheduled to begin their criminal trials inJune and October respectively.