A Toronto fraud detective illegally dug out confidential arrest records that were later used in a political smear campaign, and lied repeatedly about his actions, a police watchdog agency alleges in a striking new report.

Ontario’s Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) has called for disciplinary charges against the constable, accusing him of “serious” misconduct.

Meanwhile, the agency said it is continuing to investigate a second, off-duty police officer who asked the detective to obtain the information, and a civilian who distributed it to numerous community leaders.

The office’s initial report on the case, a copy of which was obtained by the National Post, delivers the first detailed account of an extraordinary political dirty-tricks operation made possible by police snooping.

The campaign’s target — would-be Conservative politician Nick Gahunia — told the office the smear had “ruined” him, ending his drive to be the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Brampton Centre in last June’s Ontario election.

Gahunia — whose full name is Gurnek Gahunia Singh — said in an interview with the Post he found the organization’s findings alarming.

“Someone who is supposed to be protecting us is participating in criminal acts. That just amazes me,” he said. “I do want these guys to know this isn’t right, you can’t do this to a person. Just because you have these powers, don’t abuse them.”

Gahunia says he doesn’t know who was behind the smear campaign, but notes that Det. Const. Soon Lum first ran a search of his name on Jan. 26, 2018, two days after Patrick Brown stepped down as Ontario Conservative leader. Gahunia says he has always been close with Brown, now Brampton’s mayor, and currently works as an advisor to him at city hall.

“Someone was out to get me, and wanted to ruin my name.”

The agency says it does not believe Lum’s claim that he thought the Peel Region Police documents he accessed from an internal computer system would be used in a legitimate investigation.

Someone was out to get me, and wanted to ruin my name

“Nevertheless, he went on to share the results of that check with an officer who, on long-term leave, had no police duties to perform and no right to the information.”

The OIPRD has directed Toronto police to hold a disciplinary hearing, but the force must first get permission from the city’s police board because it has taken more than six months to investigate the complaint. Potential penalties range from docked pay and suspension to firing.

Representatives of Toronto police and the OIPRD said they could not comment on the case. Lum did not respond to messages left for him.

Gahunia considered himself to be the front-runner in the race for the Brampton Centre nomination, having recruited 3,000 of the riding’s 5,000 members and already serving as riding association president.

But in late April, packages containing copies of the internal police reports were circulated, the recipients including then Brampton mayor Linda Jeffrey, a Sikh temple and Indian community leaders. The Post also received copies of the documents, which were prefaced with an appeal to “clean the rot.”

They describe Gahunia’s encounters with the police over an alleged credit card fraud when he was 18 and a 2016 traffic stop where officers suspected cocaine possession, but released Gahunia and other passengers in an SUV within half an hour.

Gahunia had Peel police conduct a criminal records check, which came back clear of any charges or convictions, and filed a complaint about the leak. But on April 21, Conservative president Jag Badwal told him he had been barred from the race for the Brampton Centre nomination, eventually won by Harjit Jaswal. Jaswal lost to the NDP in June’s election.

Lum was part of the Toronto police financial crimes – organized crime unit, overseeing a fraud investigation called Operation Fed Ex, said the report, when the other, unnamed officer approached him. Could Lum check out Gahunia in a system that allows access to reports filed by forces across the country, he asked.

Lum, who earned $223,000 in 2017 according to Ontario’s public-sector “sunshine list,” told the agency’s investigators that the other officer repeatedly assured him the information was for official police business, even though he had been on leave for a year.

As the detective pulled the two Peel reports in February, he indicated in the computer system that Gahunia was a “person of interest” in his own investigation, admitting later that that was untrue, the report said.

First asked about the matter by the Toronto police professional standards unit last October — five months after Peel Police referred the case to that force — Lum initially claimed he did not recall conducting a records search for Gahunia’s name. He later admitted that he did, but falsely suggested it was part of his fraud probe, OIPRD wrote.

Just before his interview with the watchdog agency on Nov. 29, Lum met again with the officer on leave, asking him to come forward and explain what happened. The officer refused, urging the detective to not tell anyone about it, the report says.

The document says Lum voiced remorse to OIPRD investigators and “wished to extend his sincere apologies” to Gahunia.

• Email: tblackwell@nationalpost.com | Twitter: TomblackwellNP