Montreal's police chief has asked Quebec provincial police to look into allegations that internal affairs investigators fabricated evidence to keep officers quiet about corruption within the force.
Philippe Pichet said he asked Sûreté du Quebec counterpart Martin Prudhomme to conduct an independent investigation following a report Tuesday night on the French-language network TVA.
Former officers told TVA they were whistleblowers who were targeted by internal affairs after they had threatened to go public with allegations of corruption within the force.
Pichet said Wednesday morning he was troubled by the allegations and would take steps to "shine a light" on the situation.
Tables turned on veteran cops
Jimmy Cacchione and Giovanni Di Feo were police officers for decades, often working undercover while targeting Hells Angels and the Mafia.
The officers told TVA that in 2012, they launched their own investigation about possible corruption within the force, looking at officers possibly receiving money from the Mafia.
By 2013, they had prepared a letter to send to the public security minister and the media outlining what they had learned.
Mayor Denis Coderre said he's 'troubled' by the revelations and praised Pichet's quick response. (Radio-Canada)
They were called to police headquarters and expected they would be given a chance to explain.
Instead, they were suspended and told they themselves were being investigated.
Cacchione and Di Feo were never charged, and disciplinary complaints against them were dropped as part of a confidential agreement with the force that included an agreement that they would both resign in 2014.
"We're two whistleblowers who tried to inform high-ranking officers about longstanding corruption within the force," Cacchione told TVA.
"It's unacceptable to qualify us as bad guys after all our service."
The allegations are the latest in a series of troubling reports about the police force, including revelations last fall involving the surveillance of journalists.
Response required, politicians say
Quebec's Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux said the latest allegations require "an immediate response."
"This is exactly what had to be done and we will see the result of that investigation," he told reporters.
Mayor Denis Coderre echoed that view, saying the report was "troubling" and praising Pichet for acting quickly.
"I am pleased with that fact and I totally support him," Coderre said.
"We have to shed light on that situation and to make sure that we protect the institution, that we keep the trust of the people, and we need to make sure we have that kind of transparent process."
Task force oversight, not internal affairs
Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée called on the government to oversee the investigation, rather than have one police chief call another to request one.
Provincial police spokesman Guy Lapointe said the investigation will be handled by a task force created specifically for this situation.
"It won't be handled by the internal affairs department," he said.
"We're aware that the population is looking for something that's going to be transparent."
The task force will include select investigators with experience in organized crime and with no links to the officers making the allegations, Lapointe said.
Officers allege errors, fabrications
Cacchione and Di Feo said the allegations against them made by internal affairs contained several errors.
For example, Di Feo said one internal affairs report said he was the godfather to the son of Luigi Coretti, a businessman accused of fraud.
Di Feo pointed out that Coretti has no children. He told TVA it was just one of many errors made by internal affairs investigators.
"We have the fabrication of allegations. Once they've fabricated the allegations, they launch investigations with the goal of muzzling people who have things to say," Cacchione said.
A third officer, Roger Larivière, told TVA a similar story. He said he was targeted by internal affairs after raising concerns about problems within the force to then-chief Marc Parent in 2014.
