A jury has found the former head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police intelligence unit guilty of leaking state secrets, the first time a Canadian has been convicted under the country’s Security of Information Act
On Wednesday afternoon, jurors said Cameron Ortis was guilty of three counts of violating the act and one count of attempting to do so. They also found him guilty of breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer.
The charges followed one of Canada’s largest-ever security breaches, a revelation that alarmed Five Eyes allies.
Ortis, 51, had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including violating the secrets law by revealing classified information to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance.
After a lengthy investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Ortis was arrested in 2019, a move that sent shock waves through the intelligence community.
In his defence, Ortis told the court he offered secret material to targets as a way of enticing them to use an online encryption service that would feed information to allied spy agencies.
He also told jurors that he was working to protect the country from an undisclosed “grave threat” and since his arrest, his life had been “destroyed”.
He told the jury that in September 2014, he was contacted by a counterpart at a foreign agency who advised him of a particularly serious threat. Ortis said the counterpart informed him in strict confidence about an online encryption service called Tutanota that was secretly set up to monitor communications of interest.
Ortis claimed he then quietly devised a plan, dubbed Nudge, to entice investigative targets to sign on to the encryption service, using promises of secret material as bait.
The company, now known as Tuta, denies having ties to intelligence agencies.
The trail to Ortis’ arrest began the previous year when the RCMP analyzed the contents of a laptop computer owned by Vincent Ramos, the chief executive of Phantom Secure Communications, who had been apprehended in the US.
Ortis was accused of communicating with Ramos, who helps produce encrypted cell phones used by organised crime to evade police, and two businessmen who were under investigation by Canadian authorities.
An RCMP effort known as Project Saturation revealed that members of criminal organizations were known to use Phantom Secure’s encrypted communication devices.
Ramos would later plead guilty to using his Phantom Secure devices to help facilitate the distribution of cocaine and other illicit drugs to countries including Canada.
The Globe and Mail reported that, given the classified nature of the intelligence, Ortis was unable to speak about elements of his charges, leading his lawyer to remark Ortis was the “the first Canadian required to testify in their own defence without the ability to tell the jury”.
After the verdict, Justice Robert Maranger told the court that Ortis’ bail would be revoked prior to sentencing. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year term for the civilian member of the RCMP, saying he had no authority to disclose classified material and that he was not doing so as part of a sanctioned undercover operation.
The online encryption service Ortis said he was working with called Ortis’ claims “completely false”. A sentencing hearing will be held in early January.
With Associated Press
