York Regional Police Sgt. Gurdip Panaich says he and his family have “suffered” since Panaich was wrongfully charged with extortion and obstruction of justice in March 2015.
“I was shocked, I was very shocked, the day they arrested me in my driveway and transported me to the police station, I had to hide my face because I was very embarrassed,” Panaich told Global News. “But I was hoping when I got to the station, they would listen to my story and they would realize that I was not part of any of this scheme, but they did not.
“I was shocked that they did not believe a word that I said.”
The charges were dropped a few months later, but Panaich said the damage was already done.
He said he was shunned by friends, colleagues and even by his next-door neighbour who emailed him and said he did not want to talk to him anymore.
“I felt embarrassed leaving my house, even to go for a walk or to a social gathering or party,” he said, adding people would avoid shaking his hand.
READ MORE: York police officer charged with alleged extortion of Brampton realtor
He said many other people wouldn’t take his calls.
Panaich said his family suffered as well. His two sons were taunted at school, with kids teasing them about their father being a “criminal rather than a cop,” according to Panaich.
His wife, Gugni Gill, who is a well-known Punjabi actress, had hoped to run in the federal election that year with the Liberal Party but said she had to drop the idea after all of the negative backlash her family faced after her husband’s arrest.
Panaich, who has also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, was also suspended for a short time from the YRP.
“I was totally devastated, I was under a lot of stress. My colleagues thought that maybe I was a criminal.”
But now a report from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), which investigates complaints against Ontario police, said it found evidence that a Peel Regional Police detective conducted a “biased” extortion investigation against Panaich, civilian Surjit Brar, and Surjit’s brother, York Const. Sukhdeep Brar.
The findings from the OIPRD are the latest in the years-long saga that began in 2014 when Brampton real-estate broker Dale Mundi came to Peel police with allegations that he was being defamed by a website.
According to a statement of claim filed by Panaich and the Brar brothers in 2014, Mundi and Surjit Brar met with a person claiming to have evidence linking Mundi’s employee to the website. Mundi offered $25,000 for the evidence and asked that Surjit Brar hold the money as an independent third-party, the statement of claim said.
Brar then contacted Sgt. Panaich, who worked with his brother for the York police, to tell him about this alleged deal, the statement of claim reads.
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The Statement of Claim said that Panaich and Const. Brar attempted to dissuade Surjit Brar from becoming involved in the matter.
The claim alleges Mundi later met with Peel Det. Robert Crane and Mundi claimed the man who had demanded $25,000 in exchange for the evidence could get away with extortion “because of their ties to the police,” the claim states.
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Surjit Brar and Panaich were arrested in March 2015, according to the OIPRD, but the charges were later withdrawn.
In a letter dated Nov. 3, 2017, Gerry McNeilly, Independent Police Review Director, said that Panaich was the victim of a “malicious” investigation into an alleged extortion scheme investigated by Peel Police.
“After a careful consideration of all available information, I have found that there is evidence of misconduct as defined by the Police Services Act regarding the following allegations involving Detective Robert Crane,” McNeilly said.
Panaich and the Brar brothers filed a $1-million lawsuit in 2016 over the investigation by Peel police.
“The plaintiffs were made the subject of public disgrace, odium and humiliation, and ignominy within their professions and their social community,” a statement of claim reads. “The Peel Police officers conducted their arrests of the plaintiffs Sgt. Panaich and Mr. Brar in a manner calculated to humiliate them, to alert their neighbours to the arrest, and to cause damage to their reputations in the broader community.”
The Peel police and Crane have denied allegations of a negligent investigation and filed a statement of defence to “expressly deny” malicious prosecution and false arrest.
“Det. Crane was, at all material times, acting in good faith in his conduct of the investigation and in compliance with his duties under the (Police Services Act),” the statement of defence said.
When contacted by Global News, Peel Police spokesperson Sgt. Josh Colley said, “Det. Crane has not been formally charged under the Police Services Act. We have received the report provided by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director and it is currently under review. Once the review is complete, Peel Regional Police will proceed as directed.’
Peel police also confirmed that Crane would not be speaking on the matter and Crane declined Global News’ request to comment.
Global News contacted York Police for comment but did not receive a response.
For Panaich, who is still an active member of the YRP, the findings from OIPRD come as welcome news and he hopes to move on with his life.
“I have been serving all my life and it is my intention to continue to do so.”
As for his wife and two sons, Gill just finished shooting a movie in India and is eyeing a return to the political world, while his oldest son is hoping to follow in his footsteps and become a police officer.
—With files from Tom Hayes
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