Last month, the director general of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intelligence unit had charges brought against him for disclosing classified information to an unspecified foreign entity.

canadian director general leaks classified information

The accused, Cameron Jay Ortis, began his career with the Mounted Police in 2007 and was once the director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre. Ortis also worked in the Operations Research and National Security Criminal Investigations branches of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Throughout his career Ortis reportedly had access to domestic and international intelligence, including from Canada’s allies.

One of the charges that Ortis faces is breach of trust. It’s been reported that he attempted to disclose classified information to a foreign entity that, at this time, have yet to be named. The prosecutor for the case, John Macfarlane, said “The allegations are he obtained, stored and processed sensitive information, the Crown believes with the intent to communicate that information to people he shouldn’t be communicating to”.

Although not confirmed, it has been suggested that Ortis’s arrest could be in connection to a major, $230 million, Russian fraud case in which he was heading up the investigation. There are also concerns that multiple investigations could now be compromised by Ortis’s actions.