Two men accused of an extortion scheme last year — including a York Region police sergeant — are suing the Peel Police Services Board and a Peel detective, alleging they were victims of a “negligent” and “malicious” investigation that violated their Charter rights and unfairly damaged their reputations.

York police Sgt. Gurdip Panaich and Surjit Brar, a civilian, had their charges dropped last summer. Surjit’s brother, York Const. Sukhdeep Brar, is also a plaintiff in the case, because he alleges he was investigated but never charged. The trio filed a statement of claim in Ontario Superior Court on Dec. 7.

None of their allegations have been proven in court.

Panaich and the Brar brothers are claiming at least $1 million in damages. The lawsuit alleges that Peel Det. Robert Crane, who led the extortion investigation, ignored contradictory evidence and arrested Panaich and Surjit Brar without interviewing the men or a key witness. Crane then failed to provide disclosure to the defence during the first three court dates and was removed from the case, according to the statement of claim. The charges were dropped weeks later.

“The conduct of Peel Police officers, and in particular Det. Crane . . . fell well below the standard of a reasonable police officer in similar circumstances,” the statement of claim alleges. “Their actions were negligent, and the defendant police board is (vicariously) liable for such conduct.”

Peel police spokesperson, Staff Sgt. Daniel Richardson, did not respond to requests for comment. The plaintiffs’ lawyer said no statement of defence has been filed.

The lawsuit has not been tested in court.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs describe the events that led to arrests and charges against Surjit Brar and Panaich in March 2015. A Brampton real-estate broker named Dale Mundi was in a legal dispute with an employee, who Mundi later suspected was responsible for a website containing allegedly defamatory statements about him.

In late December 2014, there was a meeting between Mundi, Surjit Brar and a man who apparently had text-message evidence that linked Mundi’s employee to the website, according to the statement of claim. The man was hesitant to give Mundi the evidence, fearing legal consequences, so Mundi offered $25,000 for the text message that the man could use if a lawsuit arose, the statement of claim says. Mundi and the man proposed that Surjit Brar hold the money as an independent third party.

The statement of claim says that Surjit Brar then contacted Sgt. Panaich — who worked with his brother in the York police — to tell him about this proposal. Panaich spoke with Const. Brar and they told Surjit Brar not to get involved, according to the statement of claim.

Several weeks later, however, Mundi met with Peel police Det. Crane and gave a different version of events, the statement of claim says. In his interview with police, Mundi claimed that the man with the text message had demanded $25,000 in exchange for the evidence, and that these men could get away with such extortion “because of their ties to the police.”

Mundi did not respond to an email and phone message from the Star asking him to clarify the different stories.

Four days after Mundi’s interview with Crane, on Feb. 24, 2015, he met again with the man who allegedly demanded $25,000 — Vick Bains, who was also subject to charges that have since been withdrawn. The lawsuit claims Mundi surreptitiously recorded the meeting for Peel police, but did not obtain any incriminating evidence.

Surjit Brar and Panaich were then arrested on March 5; Panaich was apprehended in his driveway, in front of his neighbours, and he was suspended from his job with York police, the lawsuit says.

A week later Peel police put out a press release linking Panaich and Surjit Brar to “an extortion plot,” while referring to 14 firearms-related charges against a man named Rajkanwar Mangat. The lawsuit states that Mangat was arrested on Feb. 2, and that his charges stemmed from an “unrelated investigation.”

Const. Brar was never penalized at work because of the investigation, while Panaich has been fully reinstated as a platoon sergeant, York police Const. Andy Pattenden told the Star.

“Any time a police officer is charged it’s bound to get media coverage, so police better be sure,” Panaich told the Star on Monday. “Why would you not take your time to investigate properly? What was the rush?”

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Jonathan Schachter, said the way Peel police handled and publicized the case is “troubling” and raises very serious issues.

“This case is about ensuring that police use their resources to solve real crimes, rather than to destroy the reputations of innocent people,” he said.

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The lawsuit also states that Mundi was initially told by Peel police that his complaint was a civil matter, but that the day before he was first interviewed by Det. Crane, Brampton Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon stepped in on his behalf and asked Mayor Linda Jeffrey — who sits on the Peel police board — to push for a criminal investigation. In an email, Dhillon said he won’t discuss a constituent’s private matters, but acknowledged that he was approached by Mundi and passed along the concerns to the mayor.

Jeffrey’s spokesperson, Jim Schembri, confirmed the mayor forwarded Dhillon’s information to the Peel police chief. Schembri said the mayor wouldn’t discuss the lawsuit because she’s a member of the Peel police board and the matter is before the courts.

Sgt. Panaich said he has filed a complaint against Peel police with the province’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) and that an investigation is ongoing.