Published in The Toronto Star, August 6, 2026 | By Betsy Powell
A judge has stayed almost a dozen drug and proceeds of crime charges against a lifestyle and fitness coach after finding Toronto police officers “likely” stole $5,000 in cash from his Liberty Village apartment and lied about it under oath.
“I stress that this finding is made on a balance of probabilities, not using the standard of beyond a reasonable doubt,” Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies wrote in her ruling released last month. “This also means that at least one officer lied in giving evidence before me, which compounds the misconduct.”
“The police were caught out here because defence records provided proof of funds, and the officers claim the hamper where the money should have been was full of clothes when it wasn’t, and their own post-search video showed no clothes on the floor at all. The judge was very alert to the details of the evidence and applied logic to the various stories and came up with a well reasoned decision.”
“The solution is to record the actual searches as they take place. This used to be done, sporadically, but isn’t now as the police say it might reveal the identity of undercover officers. With today’s technology this is not an excuse,” Moustacalis wrote in an email to the Star.
“The police were caught out here because defence records provided proof of funds, and the officers claim the hamper where the money should have been was full of clothes when it wasn’t, and their own post-search video showed no clothes on the floor at all. The judge was very alert to the details of the evidence and applied logic to the various stories and came up with a well reasoned decision.”
