Category: Police Misconduct

Court hears of Donald Best story as mobster jailed for threats to murder former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.

Former federal Cabinet Minister Julian Fantino “Abuses in the Donald Best case could undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.”
  • Mobster Delio Manuel Pereira jailed for 18 months for credible threats to murder former federal Cabinet Minister and Police Chief Julian Fantino.
  • Pereira, 66 years old, is a career thug who previously spent years in prison for his role in the 2001 murder of mafia enforcer and boxing champion Eddie Melo.
  • Ontario Judge Elaine Deluzio heard evidence that Pereira tacked news articles about  Julian Fantino on his wall, including one from a December 2017 edition of the Star.
  • That article, headlined “Fantino takes aim at judge, police and lawyers,” described Fantino’s allegations that a Canadian judge, lawyers and several polices forces acted improperly in the conviction of Donald Best on contempt of court charges.

Story of corruption, coverup by Canadian lawyers, police & judges in the news again.

by Donald Best

The ongoing Donald Best case concerning how corrupt lawyers, police and a corrupt judge acted improperly to convict and jail Best received a brief mention in a recent Toronto Star news article by crime journalist and author Peter Edwards.

The Toronto Star article ‘Man sentenced to 18 months for threats to kill former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino’ relates how mobster Delio Manuel Pereira threatened to murder former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.

The court heard how Pereira had a December 2017 Star news story tacked to his wall – ‘Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers’. That article told of Julian Fantino’s legal efforts to intervene in the case of Donald Best.

Judge Elaine Deluzio

After hearing all the evidence, including about the Toronto Star article pinned to Delio Manuel Pereira’s wall, Ontario Judge Elaine Deluzio sentenced the mobster to 18 months in prison.

The Toronto Star report of Pereira’s trial and sentencing makes no mention of what Judge Deluzio said or thought about Fantino’s accusations of corruption by lawyers, police and judges in the Donald Best case. Here is an excerpt from that article…

Former Federal Cabinet Minister Julian Fantino alleges wrongdoing by Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy, lawyers & police

Former Conservative cabinet minister and provincial police commissioner Julian Fantino has accused a Canadian judge, lawyers and several police forces of acting improperly and even illegally in the conviction and jailing of a man for contempt of court.

In his submission, Fantino maintains that Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy convicted Donald Best “upon the presentation by lawyers of provably false evidence.” He also argues that “disturbing” evidence suggests police resources and personnel were “improperly retained, used and co-opted” to help one side in the private civil dispute.

“The court also convicted Mr. Best based upon affidavit evidence that was the product of illegal actions by a serving officer of the Ontario Provincial Police at the time that I was OPP commissioner,” Fantino states. “Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence … with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges.”

Fantino, who could not be immediately reached for comment, explains in his 33-page affidavit filed along with 100 exhibits why he wanted to get involved. The “abuses,” he said, could undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.

“I notice that, in this matter, no one represents the people of Canada,” Fantino states. “No one speaks for me and other Canadians who believe in and rely upon fairness, courtesy and honourable treatment within the justice system.” 

… Above from the Toronto Star article Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers’.

Donald Best story gaining traction in the mainstream & online news media.

With increasing frequency in the mainstream media, the story is being told to the public of how corrupt lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver, Sebastien Kwidzinski, corrupt OPP officer Jim Van Allen and corrupt Federal Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy convicted and knowingly sent an innocent Donald Best to prison for Contempt of Court – to protect the corrupt Bay Street lawyers (Ranking, Silver, Kwidzinski) who fabricated provably false evidence and lied to the court.

Donald Best’s story has now been covered by every major Canadian newspaper. His interview on The Jimmy Dore Show attracted international attention by both the public and the news media.

Watch for more public exposure in the coming weeks as Donald Best appears in more video interviews and mainstream press articles.

Further Reading

Summary of Julian Fantino’s September 28, 2017 affidavit.

January 1, 2018 News Media censorship of Julian Fantino’s Canadian Judicial Council intervention crumbles.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Donald Best is a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective) who is now an independent journalist, documentary filmmaker and an anti-corruption advocate. He is the recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award, and has been called “One of Canada’s most methodical and well documented whistleblowers.”

News media shuns award winning corrupt ex-cop.

How Corruption destroyed a Police Officer’s Retirement Career.

Fasken Martineau lawyer Gerald Ranking (left) illegally hired OPP Sergeant Jim Van Allen to perform an illegal investigation to benefit Ranking’s clients.
by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Toronto Police

For almost two decades expert criminal profiler, behavioural analyst and threat specialist Jim Van Allen was the go-to expert for Canada’s largest news organizations. His prestigious Order of Merit of the Police Forces award practically guaranteed a lucrative post-retirement career.

As a Detective Sergeant in charge of the elite Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Profiling Unit and continuing after his retirement, Van Allen made hundreds of appearances on television, radio and in the newspapers commenting on serial killers, stalkers and workplace violence. Crime writers, authors and professors published Van Allen’s expert opinions, quotes and interviews. He was a featured speaker on the lecture circuit and by all accounts was skilled at capturing an audience’s attention by entertaining as well as informing.

In his September 28, 2017 sworn affidavit, former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino eviscerated Jim Van Allen’s integrity, character and professional standing…

News media Career Killer.

All that media attention started to vanish when the story of Jim Van Allen’s corruption as a police officer began to surface in filed court evidence during the Donald Best civil cases. A Google search doesn’t reveal any Van Allen interviews for several years, starting just around the time when the story of his corruption gained traction.

Then came further revelations from the Toronto Star’s investigative reporter Harold Levy that during the Goudge Inquiry into disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s evidence as an ‘expert witness’ in statement analysis was seen as a factor in falsely charging two innocent mothers with the deaths of their children. One mother, Louise Reynolds, spent two years in prison charged with murdering her daughter and was forced to give up her remaining daughter for adoption. All charges were dropped after the truth surfaced.

Van Allen’s Corruption in Police Service.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino was Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s top boss.

“Had I known of (Jim Van Allen’s) transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct… 

“In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.

“Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation …with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen.”  

… former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, September 28, 2017

The ‘coup de grâce’ to Van Allen’s news media career was the September 28, 2017 affidavit of Van Allen’s boss at the time of his corrupt acts in 2009 & 2010, former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police Julian Fantino.

In his September 28, 2017 sworn affidavit, former OPP Commissioner Fantino eviscerated Jim Van Allen’s integrity, character and professional standing, saying…

  • “In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.”
  • “Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s conduct and behavior in relation to this case occurred while I was OPP Commissioner. Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence to determine the details, extent and duration of his activities with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen and, potentially, charges against other involved persons.”
  • “The prosecuting lawyers hired and submitted an affidavit from Mr. Van Allen. They claimed that he was a private investigator and failed to disclose that he was a serving police officer with access to police resources. This police officer obtained confidential information not available to the public which was then used by the Judge to convict, sentence and imprison Mr. Best for contempt.”
  • “Although the lawyers regularly referred to Van Allen as a ‘private investigator’ in their legal documents and on the court record in verbal submissions and discussions with the Judge, Jim Van Allen was not a licensed private investigator. James ‘Jim’ Arthur Van Allen, was in fact a serving Ontario Provincial Police Detective Sergeant and manager of the OPP’s Criminal Profiling Unit who was working secretly and illegally as an unlicensed private investigator.”
  • “From my examination of the evidence that is already filed in court and was easily available to the courts and the CJC had they examined it, it is reasonable to conclude that OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s inappropriate employment as a private investigator, his access to confidential information and the distribution of the same, and the very creation of his affidavit in order to benefit private parties in a civil lawsuit, represents a flagrant violation of various Provincial and Federal laws including the Police Services Act, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, the Criminal Code and the Freedom of Information Act.”
  • “It is inconceivable that all the involved lawyers and Judge were unaware that ‘private investigator’ and expert witness Jim Van Allen was an OPP police officer. Considering many factors, including Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s high public profile, the rules and normal vetting practices by lawyers and judges concerning Expert Witnesses, and the fact that Van Allen’s affidavit and redacted invoices were clearly suspect on their face to any ordinary person let alone lawyers and judges, it is unbelievable that nobody in that courtroom knew the truth about Van Allen or otherwise cared to find out.”
  • “I notice that Van Allen’s two redacted invoices are numbers 11 and 12 for the year 2009, which to me raises serious questions about how many other illegal investigations he had performed and which lawyer clients might have retained him previously. Had I known of his transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct.”

Court Documents – Redacted Identity Information (signatures, etc)

In .PDF format for downloading. Size indicated.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Cassels Brock website celebrates corrupt lawyer Lorne Silver who lied to jail a self-represented litigant

Bay Street law firm dares not sue Donald Best for publishing the truth.

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

Even though Canadian lawyer Lorne Silver’s corrupt acts (fabrication of evidence, obstruction of justice and lies to the court) in the Donald Best legal cases are thoroughly proven and widely recognized by credible, independent observers – the Cassels Brock website still celebrates that Silver won the case and imprisoned a self-represented person for contempt of court.

 

Normalizing corruption

On November 17, 2009, Cassels Brock senior lawyer (and Deputy Managing Partner) Lorne Silver and two other Bay Street lawyers deliberately fabricated false evidence against me, Donald Best, to be used in a costs hearing in the Nelson Barbados Group Ltd. v. Cox civil case.

Cassels Brock brags about victory achieved by fabrication of evidence and lying to the court.

After a conference call with me, Lorne Silver and co-counsels Gerald Ranking and Sebastien Kwidzinski created a false ‘Statement for the Record’ wherein they officially informed the Ontario Superior Court that during the phone call I had ‘confessed’ to receiving a certain court order the day before. In fact, as my secret recording of the telephone conversation proves, under Silver’s questioning I denied numerous times receiving the court order and asked that the order be sent to me.

During subsequent ‘secret’ court hearings that I was not informed of and had no knowledge of, the corrupt lawyers doubled down on their lies orally on the record – assuring the court that their Statement for the Record was true and that I and not they, were lying to the court. (This was prior to them knowing that I had secretly recorded our phone conversation.) 

Further evidence shows that Fasken lawyer Gerald Ranking and his assistant Jeannine Ouellette also lied to the court about sending me the court order in the first place. They never sent the order that the lawyers told the court I had confessed to receiving in the phone call.

Corrupt lawyers Sebastien Kwidzinski, Gerald Ranking & Lorne Silver lied to the courts.

The lawyers deliberately lied to the court to convict me of Contempt of Court in a civil case costs hearing that I was not informed of. They also illegally paid a corrupt Ontario Provincial Police officer (Det. Sgt. Jim Van Allen) to illegally act as their unlicensed private investigator and to illegally provide confidential police records about my police employment and my family including the names of my children and ex-wife.

The veracity of the above facts is not now, and has never been, at issue.

Who says so? 

  • Senior Law Society of Ontario (LSO) lawyers such as Brian Greenspan, Milton Davis, Paul Slansky, LSO Bencher Rocco Galati and many others, including law professors and a Crown Attorney – all of whom determined that Lorne Silver, Gerald Ranking and Sebastien Kwidzinski lied to the court to convict me of contempt in absentia (when I was not present).
  • The Ontario Civil Liberties Association, that openly published a statement in my support when that organization honoured me as the sole recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award.
  • Former Federal Cabinet Minister and Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police, Julian Fantino in his sworn affidavit.
  • Dr. Stevan Pausak, forensic scientist at Ontario’s Centre of Forensic Sciences (1975-1998) in his sworn affidavit. 
  • Edward J. Primeau, noted forensic audio examiner, in his sworn affidavit.
  • Broadcast journalist Jimmy Dore during a live interview on The Jimmy Dore Show – and other Canadian and American journalists who examined the evidence and interviewed me.
  • Law Professor Julie Macfarlane, Director University of Windsor Law School National Self-Represented Litigants Project – who made a video presentation confirming that the lawyers lied to the court.
  • Two Canadian judges who privately told me that they are “ashamed” at what was done to me.
  • Hundreds of citizens who wrote to me, saying that they have listened to the voice recordings, compared them to the lawyers’ written and oral testimony in official court records – and are disgusted not only with the corrupt lawyers, but also with the legal profession and courts that worked together to save senior members of the Bay Street club even when that meant knowingly sending an innocent person to prison.

Yet, in the face of this truth and growing public realization of how Cassels Brock and its legal team imprisoned an innocent Canadian through the fabrication of false evidence and the commission of criminal offenses – the law firm’s website proudly proclaims the corrupt victory.

Good. I hope Cassels Brock leaves the webpage up as a testament to how far one of Canada’s premier law firms has fallen – and how it conducts itself with entitlement, impunity and contempt for Canadians and the Rule of Law.  

Donald Best cases won by Cassels Brock lawyer Lorne Silver on the basis of fabricated false evidence and other crimes:

  • Best v. Cox, 2014 ONCA 167
  • Best v. Cox, 2013 ONCA 695
  • Best v. Cox, 2013 ONSC 8025
  • Nelson Barbados Group Ltd. v. Cox, [2008] O.J. No. 2410
  • Nelson Barbados Group Ltd. v. Cox, 2008 CarswellOnt 2142
  • Nelson Barbados Group Ltd. v. Cox, [2008] O.J. No. 454

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Donald Best receives 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award

Scandal, Cover-up by Federal Court of Canada Exposed.

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Toronto Police

I’m surprised and deeply honoured to receive the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award – announced this morning.

Today (and in my recorded acceptance speech – transcript here) I am calling upon the Law Society of Ontario and the law societies in every province to cease investigating complaints against their own members. This most serious conflict of interest undermines the profession’s credibility and the public’s trust in our legal system.

Self-investigation by the lawyers’ unions is a real conflict of interest that is unacceptable by any modern standard and cannot be resolved – except by the establishment of independent organizations in each province to receive complaints against lawyers, to perform professional unbiased investigations and to lay charges where appropriate. The retention of investigative functions by the law societies is indefensible.

Today, I also reveal details of an ongoing major scandal and active cover-up by the Courts Administration Service and the Federal Court of Canada that impacts every Canadian who has appeared before that court for any reason in the last few years.

This documented misconduct by Federal Court of Canada personnel throws into question every recent decision of the Federal Court of Canada. Dozens of lawyers and litigants have already contacted me about this revelation and I am aware of several lawsuits / legal motions that are imminent. At least one will be filed within days.

Regarding my personal legal battles, both the Ontario Civil Liberties Association (in their news media release) and University of Windsor law professor Julie Macfarlane in her introduction speech for my award – openly declare that I was unjustly convicted of contempt of court and imprisoned based upon false evidence fabricated by senior lawyers from some of Canada’s largest law firms. (Former OPP Commissioner of Police Julian Fantino said the same thing last year in a sworn affidavit and said that if he knew then what he knows now, he would have launched a criminal investigation against named Ontario Provincial Police officers and lawyers.)

To my friends and family who believed in me during the darkest times and gave me strength – thank you. This is your Ontario Civil Liberties Award as much as it is mine. To the legal profession and the courts… We want our justice system back.

Ontario Civil Liberties Association announcement…

http://ocla.ca/ocla-civil-liberties-award/

My acceptance speech…

https://youtu.be/AWUcVtnec9A

Professor Julie Macfarlane’s introduction…

https://youtu.be/trPU2uwUzOM

Donald Best Receives the 2018 OCLA Civil Liberties Award

(Ottawa, December 4, 2018) – The Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) presents its 2018 Civil Liberties Award to whistleblower and anti-corruption activist Donald Best.

Donald Best is a former Sergeant (Detective) with the Toronto Police responsible for investigating Canadian police, lawyers, and politicians involved in organized crime, and a leading Canadian anti-corruption whistleblower and activist.

In his ongoing legal cases and public advocacy, Mr. Best has exposed corruption in the Canadian legal profession including secret orders and investigations by judges, the submission of false evidence in court by lawyers, and the failure of disciplinary bodies such as the Law Society of Ontario and the Canadian Judicial Council to investigate complaints against judges and lawyers.

Mr. Best’s tireless efforts to create integrity and accountability in the Canadian legal system make him an exemplary leader in the fight for equality before and under the law of all Canadians, including self-represented litigants.

Embedded at the OCLA’s award website (link HERE) is a video of Donald Best’s acceptance speech for the 2018 OCLA Civil Liberties Award, following a video introduction of Mr. Best by law professor Julie Macfarlane, Director of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project, University of Windsor.

Background Articles available online

https://donaldbest.ca/faqs-about-best-v-ranking/

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ex-federal-cabinet-minister-julian-fantino-takes-aim-at-judge-cops-lawyers

https://business.financialpost.com/legal-post/internet-research-by-jurors-and-judges-during-cases-challenged-julius-melnitzer

https://donaldbest.ca/broadcaster-jimmy-dore-interviews-donald-best-the-lawyers-lied-to-the-court-and-as-a-result-you-were-convicted/

Hamilton Councillor Sam Merulla embraces police investigation of Mafia connections – with custom Godfather logo

Hamilton Councillor jokes about leaked police investigation – but offers no explanation to citizens.

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

When DonaldBest.CA re-published leaked police documents showing Hamilton politician Sam Merulla under investigation for apparent association with notorious ‘Ndrangheta Mafia members Antonio Agresta and brothers Angelo and Pat Musitano – Merulla responded by blocking your writer Donald Best from reading his Twitter feed.

Now the newly re-elected council member’s Twitter profile @SamMerulla shows him wearing a custom Godfather-style logo ‘The Councillor’ in an apparent attempt to defuse the issue through humour and mocking.

Left unsaid by Merulla is any real reply or explanation to the concern that an elected official appears as a subject in a long term investigation into organized crime. ‘Project SCOPA’ also revealed corrupt Hamilton cops in the pay of the mob.

Nothing from Sam Merulla – and very surprising during the recent municipal election – not one word about the police investigation into Merulla from the Hamilton Spectator, the Toronto Star or any other local news media. 

Whether due to ‘libel chill’ or the corrupt influence of organized crime, the result is the same: the mainstream news media failed in its duty to the public and to the public trust.

Hamilton politician Sam Merulla blocked Donald Best on Twitter

Hamilton Citizens deserve the Truth from Merulla and the Police

In 2016, the Toronto Star reported on a lawsuit by undercover officer Paul Manning – who alleges he was betrayed by the Hamilton Police Service and by corrupt police officers working for the Mafia.

Then about a year ago Oakville-based private investigator Derrick Snowdy published confidential police reports into organized crime showing connections between Hamilton mobsters, corrupt cops and several politicians – including Councillor Sam Merulla and former Hamilton Police Board Chair Bernie Morelli. (Morelli passed at 70 years old in 2014 after a long illness.)

In late 2017 I published two articles:

Leaked police report: Hamilton City Councillor Sam Merulla & former Police Board Chair linked with organized crime, ‘Ndrangheta mafia

Domenic Violi arrest a reminder that Organized Crime has penetrated Canadian police for decades

On November 15, 2017 the Toronto Star published a teaser about the Derrick Snowdy material – but only mentioned mob figures and corrupt cops. Again, the mainstream news media lacked the courage and integrity to report the full story, including that Sam Merulla was a target / subject of a major police investigation into the Hamilton mob.

Is it any wonder that Canadians no longer trust the mainstream news media as they once did?

‘The Councillor’ Sam Merulla wouldn’t be wearing a mocking Godfather shirt if the Hamilton and Toronto mainstream news media was doing its job.

Hamilton Councillor Sam Merulla and Musitano brothers (montage from original document below)

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

 

Valarie Findlay: Wolves, Sheep and the Inconvenience of Sheep Dogs

“As source in a media story this past summer, I was aware of the rough road ahead: A sworn officer had revealed information on an active undercover operation targeting a long-time municipal politician for bribery.”  …Valarie Findlay

Show me how to lie,

You’re getting better all the time.
And turning all against the one

Its an art that’s hard to teach.
Another clever word

Sets off an unsuspecting herd.
And as you step back into line,

The mob jumps to their feet.

by Valarie Findlay

Where fact and perspective meet, our personal values churn both of these, binding them into what we believe to be right and fair. Beyond common law and more than moral platitudes, these complex, emotional judgments help us to separate the ‘good guys’ from the bad, the law-abiding from the law-breaking and those who pull ‘sheep’s clothing’ over their wolf-like intentions, as they stride into the light of public interest.

It’s not uncommon for the public to be dazzled by sleight of hand that leaves us doubting our intuitions, even in the face of facts – it happens all of the time. The unknowing – or those not wanting to know – are transformed into complicit shills, bit players in the theatrics of the corrupt. Everyone knows that following the crowd is easier than standing up, or worse, standing alone.

Not a fan of acting on a single vector of information, balancing the material and immaterial with historical actions or patterns and intuition is critical. These are the pillars of anecdote, facts and the pathology of behaviours. The simplicity of when someone shows themselves to you, believe them is not lost on me, but it is rarely enough to grind the gears of public opinion.

(Above LiveLeak video: Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof talking about Chairman of the Ottawa Police Service Board and alleging, quiet clearly, that Eli El-Chantiry is involved in Organized Crime. Note: none of his allegations have yet been proven true.)

Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof first denies, then admits secret recordings are of him

As source in a media story this past summer, I was aware of the rough road ahead: A sworn officer had revealed information on an active undercover operation targeting a long-time municipal politician for bribery. The local politician was Ottawa Police Services Board Chair, Eli El-Chantiry. The ‘officer’ was Ottawa Police Association president, and former Ottawa Police Services (OPS) sergeant, Matt Skof. The receiving party was me.

Matt Skof Ottawa Police Association President

When Matt informed me that El-Chantiry was the target of a bribery play, I had no intention of acting on the information. But that changed when I was told the operation was disbanded without cause, charges nor explanation and that emails existed between El-Chantiry, his secretary and others coordinating the bribe.

The only statement I will make with regard to Matt with any certainty is that he grossly misjudged my principles. Under no circumstances would I hide serious assertions that an elected official was involved in criminal activities and that the investigation stood up on that information was seemingly quashed.

As the information was socialized by others, it was not exactly a shock to a tight circle of cops and myself. For three years, I had been the conduit for many sources of testimony and material evidence on El-Chantiry’s conduct – and then I had my own. I had no reason to doubt Matt’s accuracy, truth and veracity of the information. In instances prior to this, any information shared on El-Chantiry and others was corroborated by those who were directly involved. Matt, in my opinion, acted in good faith, as I did.

Over the months that followed, much was underemphasized that would have lent context.

Firstly, the information provided by Matt was not coerced, as some have suggested. It also occurred over several months with increasing detail and cohesion. To that and on the matter of why the calls were recorded, this was an automatic function on the cell phone that Matt often called me on; calls made to my other numbers were not recorded.

There was no grand entrapment scheme and there was no personal benefit to me. The recordings were all but forgotten, until it was indicated to me that the operation was apparently “buried” – keeping in mind, this operation was executed and funded in a way that kept it shielded from the executive.

“I am one hundred percent convinced that Eli El-Chantiry is full out involved in organized crime, no doubt…”  Ottawa Police Association President Matt Skof talks about Ottawa Police Service Board Chair Mr. Eli El-Chantiry.

Secondly, there was no manipulation or misrepresentation of the recordings, as claimed by Matt. The original files’ were substantiated and verified by a number of factors: time/date stamps, call logs showing phone numbers and length of calls and correlation of information from the conversations to material elements, such as emails. The integrity of the audio files was maintained and verified as such.

Eli ElChantiry, Chair Ottawa Police Services Board

Many asked why Matt would share such sensitive information with me. Obviously, I know why, but this is a question for Skof to answer, not me. From our many conversations over the years on El-Chantiry’s conduct, I can presume he was dually disgusted and overjoyed that this may signal the end of El-Chantiry’s fourteen year reign as Ottawa-Ward 5 Councillor and nearly ten years on the Ottawa Police Services Board.

Additionally, many have asked whether Matt and I had a “romantic” relationship. We did not – it was not romantic in the slightest. Others shifted the focus to his error in judgement, and in some cases, mine. To this, I will vigorously state that on the face of the information and its serious implications, the necessity for the matter to be independently investigated is crucial. I stand by that one-hundred percent. Read more

Broadcaster Jimmy Dore interviews Donald Best: “The lawyers lied to the court and as a result you were convicted…”

Jimmy Dore Show names corrupt Toronto lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver, Sebastien Kwidzinski – plus corrupt judge and cop.

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

For years the Canadian news media put a ‘kill’ on my story and shadow-banned my comments on their websites. Many supportive mainstream journalists informed me that their editors refused to publish any part of my story due to ‘libel chill’ – their fear of being sued by the corrupt lawyers who proveably lied to the court to convict and imprison me for contempt in a civil matter.

On those rare occasions when Canadian outlets did write about my case, the stories were invariably agenda-driven, inaccurate and obviously sourced from the opposition. To this day no Canadian news media has published a story comparing the provably false court testimony of the Toronto lawyers with the truth as shown in the forensically-certified secret voice recordings of our conversation.

Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy

Things started to change late last year when the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, National Post and other outlets published Colin Perkel’s article Ex-cabinet minister Julian Fantino suggests judge, lawyers and cops part of conspiracy to convict man. Then on June 5, 2018 the Financial Post carried Julius Melnitzer’s story Internet research by jurors and judges during cases challenged: Julius Melnitzer.

Now the US news media is picking up the story with The Jimmy Dore Show out of Los Angeles being the first to publish a video of my guest appearance on the show. (YouTube video above or here: Cop Whistleblower Targeted by Canadian Court)

“There were secret recordings you made of your telephone conversations with the lawyers involved. I read the official court records showing what those lawyers told the court. They lied to the court, and as a result you were convicted for Contempt of Court while you weren’t even in the country.” (Jimmy Dore to Donald Best at about 10:30 into the interview.)

Jimmy Dore is the first journalist with the courage to publicly state that he compared my secret recordings with the corrupt lawyers’ testimony and finds that the lawyers lied to the court to convict me.

Corrupt Ontario lawyers Sebastien Kwidzinski, Gerald Ranking & Lorne Silver lied to the courts.

Jimmy Dore Show also names Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy, Police Officer James ‘Jim’ Van Allen

At about 18:41 into the interview, I name and the Jimmy Dore Show names the three Ontario lawyers, Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy and retired Ontario Provincial Police officer Jim Van Allen – all of whom Jimmy Dore refers to as “corrupt”.

“Donald Best, we wish you all the best in getting to the bottom of this, getting justice in your case and exposing these corrupt lawyers and judges…” (Jimmy Dore to Donald Best at about 25:00 into the interview.)

Jimmy, his staff and presumably his legal team studied my case in detail prior to making his production decisions and final edits.

Viewers know exactly what it means when a citizen like me and a journalist like Jimmy Dore openly name lawyers and a judge as “corrupt” and they do not sue. The lawyers and the judge don’t dare because they would have to expose themselves to cross-examination for the first time – and they know they are guilty of corrupt acts.

Sometimes it takes a while to break through the news media gatekeepers. It looks like that time is approaching.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in articles

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments on articles are moderated about once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
September 29, 2018
Barrie, Ontario
Canada

 

Retired Ontario Provincial Police Inspector Bill Van Allen publicly attacks Julian Fantino for exposing brother’s corruption

Donald Best highly recommends Bill Van Allen’s Criminal Investigation textbook.

Corrupt cop’s brother attacks Fantino in National Post.

I like and respect retired OPP Inspector Bill Van Allen although I’ve never met him. We do seem to have a difference of opinion about his brother, former OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen. Since Bill has publicly jumped into the discussion by launching Ad hominem attacks against former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino and yours truly in the National Post, I’ll pick up gauntlet here and lead Bill through the overwhelming and irrefutable evidence that proves corrupt and illegal acts by his brother Jim.

(Interesting that Bill Van Allen’s National Post comment doesn’t mention that he has skin in the game as his brother is the retired OPP officer whose criminal misconduct Fantino condemns in his affidavit. Also interesting is that Bill Van Allen does not (because he cannot) argue against the evidence that shows his brother committed corrupt acts. Bill can only question Fantino’s motives and call me ‘delusional’ – the very essence of an Ad hominem attack.)

Bill publicly attacked former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police Julian Fantino for filing a sworn affidavit that includes evidence that Bill’s brother Jim Van Allen – also a retired OPP officer – committed provincial, federal and criminal offences while he was a Detective Sergeant in charge of the OPP’s elite Criminal Profiling Unit.

In this case, Bill’s affection and loyalty to his brother has caused him to ignore the overwhelming evidence and to publicly attack a fellow (former) police officer for breaking the silence, the Omertà, of the police brotherhood by exposing corruption in the ranks.

I wish I could say that this was the first time I have seen a police officer attack another police officer for exposing corruption, but sadly it is all too common.

In the mid-1980s when it became known that my Toronto Police colleagues and I had successfully infiltrated a corrupt downtown squad and were starting to arrest police officers, we couldn’t park our personal cars anywhere near the station. Calls in the middle of the night to our families, locker room threats and bullying by senior officers was the collective response to our anti-corruption investigation. My squad soon had to move from downtown to a secret office that wasn’t even at a police facility.

The most difficult part of any anti-corruption investigation is not the work itself, but the attacks that always follow as various cabals try to save valued friends and family members from prosecution and disgrace.

Retired OPP officers Jim Van Allen (left) and brother Bill Van Allen

The Evidence against Jim Van Allen

It’s unfortunate that Bill’s brother Jim created his situation by corruptly taking a few thousand dollars ‘on the side’ from lawyers who wanted access to the confidential police information that Jim Van Allen illegally provided.

You can understand how a man would want to defend his brother – but if Bill Van Allen is truly In Search of the Truth, he might want to start by looking at the invoices that his brother issued to the lawyers who hired him.

That’s right – Jim Van Allen issued at least two invoices to Fasken law firm and lawyer Gerald L. Ranking that detail his corrupt employment as an unlicensed private investigator. (October 24, 2009 and November 7, 2009)

Bill might also want to look at Jim Van Allen’s October 21, 2009 affidavit wherein Jim illegally details my drivers licence number and address history and confirms that he received my confidential Toronto Police employment record. And yes, Jim swore his affidavit on a Wednesday, his normal workday as manager of the OPP’s Criminal Profiling Unit. Very profitable for Jim Van Allen to double-dip – get paid for being on duty and get paid for doing private work on the side while on duty. Very profitable indeed.

Bill Van Allen launched Ad hominem attacks against Julian Fantino and Donald Best in the National Post, but cannot argue against the overwhelming quantity and quality of evidence detailed in Julian Fantino’s affidavit.

Readers can view a summary of Fantino’s affidavit here.

Full copies of Julian Fantino’s affidavit are available below.

What Julian Fantino’s Affidavit says about Corrupt Cop Jim Van Allen

  • “The prosecuting lawyers hired and submitted an affidavit from Mr. Van Allen. They claimed that he was a private investigator and failed to disclose that he was a serving police officer with access to police resources. This police officer obtained confidential information not available to the public which was then used by the Judge to convict, sentence and imprison Mr. Best for contempt.”
  • “Although the lawyers regularly referred to Van Allen as a ‘private investigator’ in their legal documents and on the court record in verbal submissions and discussions with the Judge, Jim Van Allen was not a licensed private investigator. James ‘Jim’ Arthur Van Allen, was in fact a serving Ontario Provincial Police Detective Sergeant and manager of the OPP’s Criminal Profiling Unit who was working secretly and illegally as an unlicensed private investigator.”
  • “From my examination of the evidence that is already filed in court and was easily available to the courts and the CJC had they examined it, it is reasonable to conclude that OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s inappropriate employment as a private investigator, his access to confidential information and the distribution of the same, and the very creation of his affidavit in order to benefit private parties in a civil lawsuit, represents a flagrant violation of various Provincial and Federal laws including the Police Services Act, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, the Criminal Code and the Freedom of Information Act.”
  • “In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.”
  • “Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s conduct and behavior in relation to this case occurred while I was OPP Commissioner. Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence to determine the details, extent and duration of his activities with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen and, potentially, charges against other involved persons.”
  • “It is inconceivable that all the involved lawyers and Judge were unaware that ‘private investigator’ and expert witness Jim Van Allen was an OPP police officer. Considering many factors, including Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s high public profile, the rules and normal vetting practices by lawyers and judges concerning Expert Witnesses, and the fact that Van Allen’s affidavit and redacted invoices were clearly suspect on their face to any ordinary person let alone lawyers and judges, it is unbelievable that nobody in that courtroom knew the truth about Van Allen or otherwise cared to find out.”
  • “I notice that Van Allen’s two redacted invoices are numbers 11 and 12 for the year 2009, which to me raises serious questions about how many other illegal investigations he had performed and which lawyer clients might have retained him previously. Had I known of his transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct.”

Julian Fantino affidavit & exhibits

In .PDF format for downloading. Size indicated.

1/ Affidavit of Julian Fantino sworn September 28, 2017, Notice of Motion, Written Submissions NO EXHIBITS (72 pages – PDF 8.7mb)

2/ Julian Fantino: Full affidavit including exhibits.

Fantino Vol1 with exhibits sworn Sept 28, 2017 (344 pages – PDF 43mb) – very large, will fix soon.

Fantino Vol2 with exhibits sworn Sept 28, 2017 (245 pages – PDF 22.3mb) – very large, will fix soon.

Bill Van Allen’s book, Criminal Investigation: In Search of the Truth

Bill Van Allen’s book ‘Criminal Investigation: In Search of the Truth‘ is an excellent textbook for new and aspiring law enforcement officers. The book is widely used in Canadian college policing courses and is even popular with experienced police officers. A friend gave me a copy of the second edition for Christmas back in 2010. I’ve read it cover to cover twice and strongly recommend it to all serving police officers and private investigators no matter what their background or training. Yup… that’s me at the top of this article reading Bill’s textbook.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in articles

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated about once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Retired RCMP Inspector William Majcher swears affidavit about corrupt Canadian lawyers and judges

Retired RCMP Inspector William Majcher

Affidavit reveals deep-rooted corruption of lawyers and judges in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario

In 2002, it was revealed that William Majcher was a deep-cover RCMP police officer working against the dangerous Medellin Drug Cartel by targeting money-laundering operations in Canada.

“The Medellin Cartel, naturally, put out a contract to murder RCMP undercover officer William Majcher.”

For three years Majcher had worked undercover as a Futures and Options Commodity Trader primarily based on the floor of the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. He took down disgraced Ontario lawyer Simon Rosenfeld and others for drug cartel money laundering, including Mark Valentine of the now-defunct Toronto-based brokerage firm Thomson Kernaghan & Co. Ltd..

Then in 2005, the RCMP removed Inspector Majcher from command of the Vancouver-based Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMET) – apparently because he sought nomination as a future candidate for the Conservative party. And because – much worse – in the news media Majcher alleged that the Crown prosecutors would not proceed with criminal charges against several high-profile individuals, and he hoped he could be more effective in politics than he had been in policing.

In other words – in 2005, RCMP Inspector William Majcher alleged corruption in the legal system and the system turned on him like a pack of wolves. What a surprise!

Flash forward to July 19, 2017 and William Majcher swore an affidavit in the Supreme Court of Canada civil case: Angleland Holdings Inc., Nederland Holdings Inc., John English, Paradise Beach Resorts Inc. and Pacific Rim resort vs Gergory N. Harney Law Corporation et al.

Every Canadian should read William Majcher’s affidavit and carefully consider the implications of what happens when the legal profession and justice system are allowed to police themselves with zero independent oversight and zero external accountability.

“During the course of my employment with the RCMP while working undercover or in handling criminal informants, I became tasked with knowlege and evidence of payoffs, bribery and case fixing that included judges, lawyers and court registry staff in various parts of Canada.”

If you read nothing else today, download and read William Majcher’s affidavit (720kb pdf)

UPDATED: July 21, 2023 – William Majcher Affidavit OCRd Optical Character Recognition

Then read the case of the John English family – that Majcher swore his affidavit in support of.

Former OPP boss Julian Fantino

Another Senior Canadian Police Officer alleges corruption by judge, lawyers & police.

Former Cabinet Minister and Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police Julian Fantino recently swore an affidavit containing bombshell allegations of corruption by an Ontario Federal Court Justice, several lawyers and an OPP Detective Sergeant under his command at the time.

Toronto Star Article: Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers. 

Fantino Affidavit Summary and Court Exhibits.

“Our justice system is self-destructing before our eyes because too many lawyers, judges and elected / appointed government officials place their profession, friends, cartels and profits before the rule of law.”

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in articles

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated about once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

News media censorship of Julian Fantino’s Canadian Judicial Council intervention crumbles as Toronto Star publishes bombshell article

Former top-cop details evidence of corrupt acts by lawyers, police, judge

Four years after the Toronto Star first refused to cover the Donald Best story and deleted all mention of the name from the comments section of their website, the newspaper about-faced and published an article about former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino applying to intervene in Best’s judicial review about the Canadian Judicial Council and Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy.

The Toronto Star article opens with the following bombshell statement:

“Former Conservative cabinet minister and provincial police commissioner Julian Fantino has accused a Canadian judge, lawyers and several police forces of acting improperly and even illegally in the conviction and jailing of a man for contempt of court.”

After the Toronto Star published first, the National Post, the Globe and Mail and a host of smaller outlets carried the same Colin Perkel Canadian Press story of corrupt acts by police, lawyers and a judge. (Toronto Star: Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers)

Yes, Colin Perkel’s article contains important errors and omissions (some of which I correct below) and no link is provided to an actual copy of Fantino’s affidavit (pdf 8.7mb), but at least readers are now aware of an important story that was concealed from them.

The big story is that the after years of participating in a cover-up, the news media is finally acknowledging that this story is not going away, that it is important and that the supporting facts and evidence are as credible as they are disturbing.

In short, it seems likely that the Canadian news media came to the conclusion that the press could no longer withhold the Donald Best story from the public without further loss of credibility and relevance. It took the news media three months to mention Fantino’s September 28, 2017 sworn affidavit. Even then the media did not name any of the principal subjects in this story of corruption with the exception of Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy whose name is on the official style of cause filed at court.

I’ll fix that naming omission in a moment, but first I want to address just a few of the important errors and omissions in Perkel’s article:

  • Contrary to the article’s statement that Justice Shaughnessy found me guilty of contempt of court in 2013, Shaughnessy found me guilty on January 15, 2010 at a civil court hearing that I was not told about and was not present for. Nobody represented me at the hearing. I was in Asia at the time.
  • Justice Shaughnessy convicted me based upon several lawyers’ provably false testimony – and also upon a deceitful affidavit by an ‘expert witness’ who concealed from the court that he was a serving Ontario Provincial Police detective sergeant corruptly taking bribes from the lawyers to provide them with access to confidential police information.
  • The lawyers falsely told Justice Shaughnessy in writing and orally on the court record that during a November 17, 2009 phone call with them, I had ‘confessed’ to receiving a certain court order. In fact I said exactly the opposite, that I had not received the order – but the corrupt lawyers lied to the judge. Too bad for the lawyers that I have recordings of the call that prove they lied to the judge.
  • I returned to Canada and applied to Justice Shaughnessy to remove my conviction and sentence. I presented forensically certified telephone recordings, transcripts and other credible evidence that proved the lawyers lied to the court to obtain my conviction.
  • At a hearing in May of 2013, Justice Shaughnessy refused to consider any new evidence showing my innocence. He did not listen to the recordings. He also refused to allow me to cross-examine the witnesses (lawyers and corrupt police) upon whose false evidence he had convicted and sentenced me in January 2010 while I was in Asia.
  • On May 3, 2013 Justice Shaughnessy refused to overturn my 2010 conviction for Contempt of Court and sent me to prison to serve the 3 month sentence he had already imposed in 2010.
  • After court ended on May 3, 2013, Justice Shaughnessy went to a backroom and there, off the court record and without a hearing, trial or transcript, secretly increased my prison sentence by 50% without notifying me. He secretly created a new warrant of committal with increased jail time that he gave only to the prison authorities. He did not file the new secret warrant with the courts or make mention of it anywhere in the records.
  • Later, higher courts denied me the right to appeal my conviction because I could not pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs earlier awarded to the other side on the basis of their provably fabricated and false evidence.
  • I was not even allowed to cross-examine the lawyers and other witnesses that Shaughnessy relied upon to convict and imprison me. I was not allowed to cross-examine the corrupt Ontario Provincial Police officer. To this day, no court has listened to the forensically certified voice recordings of my telephone call with the lawyers that prove the lawyers lied to the court to convict and imprison me.
  • Every judgment of every reviewing court considered only the evidence that Justice Shaughnessy allowed. Every judgment of every reviewing court is tainted by the fact that Justice Shaughnessy and all the reviewing courts deliberately excluded the evidence that exonerated me. 
  • When I could not pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in previous court costs, the court refused to hear my appeal. I served 63 days in prison because I could not pay court costs awarded during a civil matter; with every minute spent in solitary confinement as I am a former police officer. Prison authorities said that solitary was the only place where they could keep a former police officer alive.

This is also the true story of how, when confronted with forensically certified telephone recordings and other irrefutable evidence proving that lawyers fabricated evidence and lied to the court to convict a person of contempt – the Canadian legal profession and courts closed ranks to save the corrupt lawyers, even when that meant sending an innocent man to prison.

The People behind the Corruption

Here are the names referred to in Fantino’s affidavits, the supporting exhibits and the underlying case filings:

Corrupt Ontario lawyers Sebastien Kwidzinski, Gerald Ranking & Lorne Silver lied to the courts.

Lorne S. Silver – Corrupt lawyer with the Toronto office of Cassels Brock & Blackwll LLP law firm. Fabricated false ‘Statement for the Record’ on November 17, 2009. Falsely informed Justice Shaughnessy that Donald Best had ‘confessed’ during a phone call to receiving a court order. Conspired with Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy and Gerald L. Ranking to backdate a court order ten full days. Admitted to putting Donald Best in prison to extort evidence and settlement in a different legal case filed in another jurisdiction – Florida.

Gerald L. Ranking – Corrupt lawyer with the Toronto office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP law firm. Fabricated false ‘Statement for the Record’ on November 17, 2009. Falsely informed Justice Shaughnessy that Donald Best had ‘confessed’ during a phone call to receiving a court order. Lied to the court about serving court documents upon Donald Best. Conspired with Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy and Lorne Silver to backdate a court order ten full days. Fraudulently filed court papers for, and claimed to represent, a purported client that he knew was actually a fraudulent non-existent business entity. Received a million dollars in court costs for this non-existent entity – which money was undoubtedly laundered into a bank account that was not in the name of his phony purported client. Unlawfully hired and gave money to Jim Van Allen, a corrupt Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer, for illegal access to confidential police information. Directed Kwidzinski and Van Allen in crafting Van Allen’s deceptive affidavit. Admitted to putting Donald Best in prison to extort evidence and settlement in a different legal case filed in another jurisdiction – Florida.

Sebastien Kwidzinski – Previously junior lawyer with the Toronto office of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP law firm. Now a corporate lawyer with Foresters Financial. Watched as corrupt lawyers Lorne S. Silver and Gerald L. Ranking fabricated false ‘Statement for the Record’ on November 17, 2009, said nothing when they placed the false evidence before the court to convict an innocent man. With Ranking, illegally hired corrupt Ontario Provincial Police officer Jim Van Allen to access confidential police data. Assisted Ranking and Van Allen in crafting Van Allen’s deceptive affidavit.

Corrupt OPP Detective Jim Van Allen (left) illegally made some cash on the side during the hunt for serial rapist / murderer Russell Williams

Detective Sergeant James ‘Jim’ Arthur Van Allen (OPP, now retired) Worked illegally ‘on the side’ as an unlicensed private investigator. Illegally took money from Ranking, Kwidzinski, Fasken law firm to provide confidential police information for use in a private civil action. Swore a deceptive affidavit that was used by Justice Shaughnessy to convict Donald Best of contempt of court. Surprisingly issued invoices to Ranking / Fasken Law Firm detailing his illegal activities. The invoices are filed as exhibits in the Donald Best case.

Former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino swore in his affidavit:

  • “From my examination of the evidence that is already filed in court and was easily available to the courts and the CJC had they examined it, it is reasonable to conclude that OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s inappropriate employment as a private investigator, his access to confidential information and the distribution of the same, and the very creation of his affidavit in order to benefit private parties in a civil lawsuit, represents a flagrant violation of various Provincial and Federal laws including the Police Services Act, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, the Criminal Code and the Freedom of Information Act.”
  • “In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.”
  • “Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s conduct and behavior in relation to this case occurred while I was OPP Commissioner. Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence to determine the details, extent and duration of his activities with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen and, potentially, charges against other involved persons.”
  • “I notice that Van Allen’s two redacted invoices are numbers 11 and 12 for the year 2009, which to me raises serious questions about how many other illegal investigations he had performed and which lawyer clients might have retained him previously. Had I known of his transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct.”

Lawyer Andrew Roman and his client Iain Deane (right)

Andrew Roman – formerly senior partner with Toronto office of Miller Thomson LLP law firm. Sent threatening letter to directly to witness in controvention of Florida laws. Delivered legally privileged documents to his client Iain Deane and suggested they be published on website known for threats and harassment against Donald Best’s witnesses. Engaged in cover-up of anonymous threats to witnesses proven to have originated from Miller Thomson LLP’s Toronto office. Knew that co-counsel Ranking and Silver placed false evidence before the court but remained silent.

Surrounded by Law Society Benchers, newly elected Treasurer, Paul B. Schabas (centre), chairs his first meeting.

Paul Schabas – Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP lawyer defending lawsuit launched by Donald Best’s company. Member of the famed ‘Bay Street Boys Club’ and Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario. Engaged in cover-up of anonymous threats to witnesses proven to have originated from Miller Thomson LLP’s Toronto computer network. Covered-up Andrew Roman’s illegal threatening letter to a witness. Knew and covered-up that co-counsel Ranking and Silver fabricated false evidence and that they lied to the court. Complaints to the law society about Schabas were whitewashed with no investigation and no independent review.

Justice Shaughnessy (r) & his lawyer, Law Society of Ontario bencher Peter Wardle

Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy – Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario. Former Regional Senior Judge for the Central East Region. On November 12, 2009, Shaughnessy backdated a court order ten full days to November 2, 2009, immediately placing Donald Best into contempt of court for failing to deliver business documents on November 10th – three days before Shaughnessy actually made the order. In January 2010, convicted Donald Best of Contempt of Court for, among other things, failing to deliver documents on November 10th – three days before Shaughnessy’s order to deliver the documents existed.

On May 3, 2013, after court ended Justice Shaughnessy went to a backroom and there, off the court record and without a hearing, trial or transcript, secretly increased Best’s prison sentence by 50% without notifying Best, who was unrepresented by a lawyer. Shaughnessy secretly created a new warrant of committal with increased jail time that he gave only to the prison authorities. He did not file the new secret warrant with the courts or make mention of it anywhere in the records.

Numerous other incidents of judicial misconduct as laid out in Donald Best’s complaints to the Canadian Judicial Council.

CJC Executive Director Norman Sabourin summarily dismissed Best’s complaint without an investigation and without providing reasons.

Norman Sabourin – Executive Director of the Canadian Judicial Council, summarily dismissed a complaint against Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy by former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective) Donald Best, without an investigation and in the face of irrefutable evidence that the judge went to a back room after court ended, and – off the court record – illegally made a secret new court order increasing the Best’s sentence by a month. Under Mr. Sabourin’s hand, the CJC regularly whitewashes complaints against judges and remains an organization with no transparency, independent oversight or public accountability. Mr. Sabourin acts as ‘gate-keeper’ to dismiss complaints without investigation – without so much as looking at the court file or reading a transcript showing the judge’s comments or actions.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in articles

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated about once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

 

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