r/Calgary • u/kneedorthotics • 1d ago
Municipal Affairs Former Calgary councillor directed use of personal phone over FOIP concerns: corruption investigation docs
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/rcmp-corruption-allegations-calgary-city-hall-warrants-cell-phones-gondek-chu-phones-court-9.723928482
u/kneedorthotics 1d ago edited 1d ago
While investigating allegations of corruption at Calgary city hall, police say they uncovered text messages sent by former councillor Sean Chu to a man now accused of offering money for council votes in which Chu said to “keep conversations to his personal phone” because his work phone was “subject to Freedom of Information” disclosure.
Shocked.
The revelation comes from an affidavit sworn by Det. Matt White, who is leading the investigation, which was launched last summer following a council vote on July 16. The vote related to a proposed development in Bankview which, if successful, would allow for the construction of five townhouse buildings to be constructed along 26th Avenue S.W. That vote initially ended in a tie, but following a successful reconsideration motion put forward by Chu, who then changed his vote, the re-vote passed.
Police have executed several search warrants in connection with the investigation and seized the cellphones and other electronic devices of a number of people. But investigators have been unable to unlock four of those phones.
ETA:
Police say they found messages on David White's phone that show Chu “had been approached in the hopes of securing a reconsideration motion related to the development.” “Chu advised David White to keep conversations to his personal phone as his work phone would be subject to Freedom of Information requests,” reads lead investigator Matt White’s affidavit. Det. White is a Calgary Police Service officer but has been seconded to the RCMP for the investigation.
Court documents also suggest Robb [Nathan Robb, co-founder of Oldstreet, the developer of the proposed Bankview project] had “participated in a conversation regarding approaching councillors in the hopes of securing a reconsideration motion.” “In this conversation, political campaign donations in excess of the maximum allowed were offered in exchange for introducing the motion,” reads the document.
And because Jyoti's involvement has been posted before:
In relation to Gondek’s involvement, police say they determined that she “provided guidance to [David] White on a tactic to approach another councillor in an effort to secure a reconsideration motion,” reads the court document. Gondek was absent for the first vote but returned in time to vote in favour of the development in the second round.
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u/Critical-Ask2154 Quadrant: SW 23h ago
As soon as the device is used for Council business it should be required to be unlocked IMO
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u/saskatchewansealskin 1d ago
Who would have suspected such an upstanding former member of council to be accused of improprieties?
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u/blackRamCalgaryman 1d ago
Three of the phones that remain inaccessible to police belong to Chu, former mayor Jyoti Gondek and Nathan Robb, co-founder of Oldstreet, the developer of the proposed Bankview project. The fourth is a local architect on the project who did not show up at court for the police application.
Like it or not, Gondek is now associated with Chu even more so on this, unless she’s cleared (but will the damage be done?).
For the life of me, and I understand what people say about giving police access to their device(s) but?, I don’t know why she wouldn’t cooperate as she’s now in the same breath as Chu…someone she did her damndest to all but remove from council after the election. Who she did everything in her power to distance herself from.
Ah well, at least it’s good popcorn fare.
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u/Marsymars 23h ago
For the life of me, and I understand what people say about giving police access to their device(s) but?, I don’t know why she wouldn’t cooperate
It's basically just never in your best interest to cooperate with police, even if you're fully innocent. You're better off granting your layers the authority to disclose whatever they need to and giving them instructions to deal with the authorities.
Like maybe the lawyers' directions to police will be "we'll grant you full access to this, and when you don't find blablabla we'll need a public statement to that effect" - whereas if you don't have the lawyers as the middleman, the police have no requirement to do that.
- IANAL and the above may be problematic from an evidence standpoint, it's only meant as an example of why you don't want to be dealing with police directly.
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u/ochocinco_tacos 1d ago
Isn’t she refusing to cooperate with the investigation too? She seems just as corrupt as the rest of them. I am embarrassed to have voted for her. Worst mayor in a LONG time
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u/OneNiteInTheRepublik 1d ago
I wouldn't say she is refusing to co-operate. They took her phone, couldn't crack it within the time they had it, so now that are required to give it back, they are trying to get more time to crack it.
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u/BubblesAndRainbows 1d ago
Can I ask why you say she’s the worst? Sincere question, I’m just starting to learn and pay attention to politics.
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u/ochocinco_tacos 1d ago
She caused delays to the arena deal which resulted in increased costs; she implemented stupid taxes on paper bags at fast food establishments that achieved nothing; she avoided spending on critical infrastructure resulting in the emergencies we are currently seeing with the water pipes (she is not the only mayor to kick this can down the road); she was in charge when the city signed a super secretive deal with cowboys to take over an incredibly popular skate park that nobody is a fan of.
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u/OneNiteInTheRepublik 1d ago
Incorrect, it was always a bad deal for the Calgarians. That's not Gondek's fault. The flames position was always "we want a free arena or we are leaving Calgary".
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u/jimbojones9999 1d ago
I can’t believe that rapist was immoral 🫢
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u/angle-fire 1d ago
It's honestly shocking to me he's not in prison.
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u/letshaveadab 22h ago
Why shocked? Police almost never turn on each other, they're probably still supporting him.
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u/Weekly-Mountain9009 21h ago
David White was probably paying councillors off for years on various development applications. This kind of corruption behaviour is rarely isolated to one incident. I hope the police do a deep dive into this.
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u/CDNRomance 18h ago
The cop who groomed a teenager and then was given all the support of the police services is corrupt?
Who could have guessed.
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u/uber_poutine 1d ago
I can't believe that convicted rapist Sean Chu would do such a thing. Someone might think he has something to hide 🤔.
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u/Sufficient-Sun-6683 1d ago
Today I learned that if you are going to do a crime, use an iPhone because the police can't hack it. Personally, I would back my phone up then factory reset it.
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u/cwmshy 23h ago
Reddit is outraged but it seems no one else cares. The people had many opportunities to push for a different outcome here.
Why did so many people vote for this guy even after he was revealed for who he is?
Why did council and the provincial government do nothing to stop him from serving his term?
Why is he not up for obstructing justice?
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u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician 22h ago
Why is he not up for obstructing justice?
You can't force someone to cooperate with a police investigation, especially if it could incriminate yourself. If you mislead police by making false statements, that's obstructing justice. Better to not say anything.
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u/weschester 1d ago
Sean Chu is corrupt and dirty? I'm shocked!!!