RAJ Grewal, former Brampton MP who was in the Liberal Party, has filed a $50-million lawsuit against the RCMP and Ontario’s Attorney General, accusing them of wrongfully alleging he misused his political office for financial benefit. A judge had dismissed charges on that score against Grewal nearly a year ago.
The Toronto Star broke the story last week.
In November 2018, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Grewal resigned from the Liberal caucus and as MP because of a gambling addiction and substantial debts.
The RCMP charged Grewal in 2020 with four counts of breach of trust and one count of fraud over $5,000 that were later reduced to two breach of trust charges.
It was alleged that Grewal failed to report his receipt of millions in personal loans to the Ethics Commissioner, in circumstances that constituted a criminal breach of trust. It was further alleged that Grewal solicited loans for his own personal benefit in connection with the use of his public office, and that he administered his government-funded constituency office budget for his own personal benefit, under circumstances which constituted a criminal fraud or breach of trust.
The Star said that last March, the two remaining breach of trust charges were dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court. According to a Canadian Press report, the judge said in court that a reasonable jury would not have been able to render a guilty verdict against Grewal, and that the inferences required to support the theories put forward by the Crown could “neither reasonably nor logically be drawn.”
The Star confirmed from public court records that the case was launched in Grewal’s name against the RCMP and Ontario’s Attorney General in Brampton and a copy of that was shared with the newspaper by lawyer Spencer Bass of the Toronto-based firm Stockwoods LLP.
The allegations made by Grewal have not been tested in court.
Bass told the Star in an email: “While all of the criminal charges were dismissed, this claim seeks vindication for the harm Mr. Grewal suffered because of the defendants’ overzealous misuse of the criminal justice system.”
The statement filed in court claims the former federal politician “asked friends and family for financial assistance to cover losses flowing from a previously unacknowledged and untreated gambling problem. But he never did this in connection with his duties or privileges as an MP.”
