Casino supervisor tells court that former MP became agitated over blackjack losses

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OTTAWA — An operations supervisor at On line casino Lac Leamy instructed an Ottawa courtroom Thursday that former Liberal MP Raj Grewal obtained so agitated taking part in blackjack 4 years in the past, the incident was written up in a proper safety report.

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Grewal was charged by the RCMP in September 2020 with 4 counts of breach of belief and considered one of fraud over $5,000. His lawyer mentioned in a written assertion Thursday two of these costs had been withdrawn by the Crown on Monday, the primary day of Grewal’s trial.

Nader Hasan mentioned a 3rd cost was withdrawn earlier than the trial started.

“The prospect of a trial has hung over Mr. Grewal’s head for a very long time,” Hasan mentioned. “We’ll current a vigorous defence over the approaching weeks, and we really feel assured that Mr. Grewal’s full innocence on these breach of belief costs will turn out to be clear for all to see.”

The trial is being heard by a choose alone, and is predicted to final till late July. Grewal, who lives within the Toronto space, was within the courtroom for the trial Thursday, sitting quietly behind his attorneys.

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Grewal parted methods with the Liberals within the fall of 2018 simply three years after first being elected. He sat as an Impartial MP for a Brampton, Ont., using till the 2019 election, by which he didn’t run.

Days after his cut up from the Liberals, Grewal issued a video assertion by which he mentioned he had a playing dependancy and had racked up hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in debt. He claimed the money owed had been all repaid, including that nothing sinister had taken place.

The RCMP launched a prison probe into Grewal’s playing in 2017 after Canada’s Monetary Transactions and Reviews Evaluation Centre, or Fintrac, despatched the RCMP some suspicious transaction studies associated to Grewal.

The costs laid in September 2020 stemmed from allegations he used his place as an MP to solicit hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in loans he didn’t confide in the ethics commissioner, and misused his MP workplace price range.

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The federal ethics commissioner launched an investigation into Grewal’s disclosures in early 2018 however that investigation was suspended when the prison costs had been laid and won’t resume till the case is concluded.

Grewal, 36, mentioned in 2018 that he began playing “recreationally” after college, and that in 2016, shortly after being elected as an MP, he started to frequent the On line casino Lac Leamy in Gatineau, Que., whereas he stayed on the connected resort.

He mentioned the leisure playing morphed into an dependancy for which he sought remedy in 2018.

On the trial Thursday, Jacques Bouchard, an operations supervisor at On line casino Lac Leamy, mentioned he had seen Grewal within the on line casino a number of occasions, however that on Could 30, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. he witnessed Grewal taking part in blackjack and changing into very agitated.

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He filed a safety investigation report because of the incident. The report included a few of the feedback Bouchard mentioned he overheard from Grewal, together with that Grewal felt he needs to be profitable if he obtained to 19 or 20 factors.

“Come on, have an ace,” the report quotes Grewal as having mentioned that day. “Take all my cash.”

The report additionally quotes Grewal as saying, “Why didn’t I left after the primary 100K?”

Below cross-examination, Hasan obtained Bouchard to acknowledge that the feedback in quotations will not be completely correct, noting a local English speaker wouldn’t have used the grammatically incorrect phrase “Why didn’t I left.”

Bouchard mentioned that might be the case, however added English just isn’t his first language. He testified in court docket with using an interpreter.

The trial continues subsequent week.