A Peel Regional Police officer convicted of more than 40 charges of insurance fraud, breach of trust and obstructing justice remains on the force.
The 23-year-veteran of the force Const. Carlton Watson, is still suspended with pay, two weeks after a judge ruled he was paid in cash by two men, including a tow truck driver and manager, to provide accident reports that passed off staged or bogus car crashes as legitimate ones as part of a scam that bilked insurance companies out of more than $1 million.
Acting Staff Sgt. David Kennedy told
The Brampton Guardian Watson's suspension remains in place at least until his sentencing, scheduled for May 29.
His employment status will be re-assessed at that time. Under Ontario's Police Services Act, the only time a police officer doesn't get paid while suspended is if he or she is convicted and sentenced to prison.
If an officer is convicted of a crime but doesn't have to serve jail time, they remain suspended with pay until a police disciplinary hearing which could lead to their firing.
Watson was found guilty of multiple counts of fraud, obstructing justice, uttering forged documents and breach of trust, in connection with the nine insurance claims dating back to 2010.
“Const. Watson was a public officer. The fraud was clearly in the course of his public duty and he intended to commit fraud in the course of his public duty,” said Justice John Sproat.
“When someone makes a false or exaggerated claim, honest consumers pay more than they should for insurance,” Garry Robertson, National Director of investigations for the
Insurance Bureau of Canada, told
The Guardian. “Staged accidents, exaggerated claims are problems we see far too often. As this case showed, insurance fraud comes in many forms, and the perpetrators don’t always look like criminals.”
Watson, who lives in Mississauga, admitted in testimony he prepared the accident reports without attending the scene and, in most cases, didn't speak to any of the drivers and passengers claiming to be involved in the crashes.
“The Crown alleges that Const. Watson was paid cash, typically $6,000 per (accident report) and well understood the (reports) were for fake accidents and to be used to defraud insurers,” Judge Sproat said in his ruling. “I am satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Const. Watson was a knowing participant in the insurance fraud, and was paid for providing the (accident reports).” (continued.)
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Watson has been suspended with pay since he was arrested in the spring of 2011 following an investigation by the force’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
Watson claimed he was never paid for preparing the reports and was doing it merely as a favour to friends, believing the crashes to be real and the information accurate.
But, the judge ruled much of the officer's testimony made no sense and his police notes relating to the staged crashes were “on their face clearly deceptive.”
The Insurance Bureau of Canada was also involved in the probe into the nine motor vehicle collisions that occurred in 2010.
Court heard insurers paid out more than $915,000 in claims related to the fake car crashes and incurred and additional $271,931 in expenses for items such as independent medical exams, collision reconstruction costs and legal expenses.
Watson had earned in greater notoriety when it was learned that he won $275,000 in the March 12, 2012 Daily Keno draw.
