The Project South corruption probe has so far resulted in criminal charges against eight current and former Toronto Police Service officers accused of unauthorized data searches and other criminal offences.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
An Ontario Superior Court judge revoked bail for a man accused of having a central role in the bribery, drug-trafficking and data breaches surrounding the Project South police corruption case.
Brian Da Costa, who faces 16 Criminal Code charges, was initially arrested in the winter and granted bail in March.
The Crown challenged that decision. And on Tuesday morning, Justice Rita Maxwell overturned a prior $1.5-million bail ruling for Mr. Da Costa and sent him to jail pending his trial. The reasons for her decision are covered by a publication ban.
The Project South probe, which York Regional Police began in June, recently led to several allegations including for data breaches, a plot to kill a senior corrections officer and conspiracies to obstruct justice.
Toronto Police division at core of Project South probe has history of data breaches
The police corruption probe, which is ongoing, has so far resulted in criminal charges against eight current and former Toronto Police Service officers accused of unauthorized data searches and other criminal offences. Mr. Da Costa is among at least 19 civilians charged criminally, for a range of allegations including the plot to murder a corrections officer, bribes and drug trafficking.
Mr. Da Costa faces some of the most serious allegations among the civilians charged in the case, including working with a police officer to pass along information that was later used in the alleged murder plot.
Police have alleged that Mr. Da Costa worked closely with Toronto Police Constable Timothy Barnhardt. They allege that the two men gave confidential information about a corrections officer to hitmen, who conspired to murder him last summer. The pair are also jointly charged with trafficking in stolen police uniforms, obstruction of justice and public mischief.
Mr. Barnhardt is also in jail pending his trial. None of the allegations outlined in the Project South case have been tested in court.
Seven Toronto police officers facing charges in Project South probe suspended without pay
In March, Mr. Da Costa, 43, was granted release on a bail plan that had kept him confined to a Toronto home while wearing a GPS tracker. He was ordered to surrender his passport and his cellphone, and stay away from land borders and airports.
The Globe and Mail has reported that Mr. Da Costa was set to stand trial for cocaine trafficking three years ago, but the prosecution collapsed in early 2023 when the federal Crown stayed charges without providing a reason in court. The stay followed a defence application that argued the investigation could have violated Mr. Da Costa’s Charter rights.
In that earlier case, Mr. Da Costa was arrested in May, 2019, when Toronto police raided a west-end apartment and found six bricks of cocaine stashed in the oven and $12,640 in cash, according to courtroom audio recordings. He was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of money obtained through crime.
Mr. Da Costa was identified by police as “Target One” in the 2019 investigation, which involved extensive covert surveillance by drug-squad officers.
Court heard then that Toronto police acted after a tip from a confidential source, and that seven unmarked police cars shadowed Mr. Da Costa around town for days in the surveillance campaign.
The Project South accused are to appear in court later this month.