Taxpayers are paying about $8,000 a month for the former commissioner of the RCMP to live in Manhattan for three years while he works for Interpol in New York, plus his $200,000-plus salary.

William Elliott left the Mounties in August 2011, a year after senior officers complained to the government about his management style, causing a crisis at headquarters.

When Interpol announced Elliott’s three-year appointment as special representative to the United Nations, the government didn’t say who would be paying the bills.

But documents obtained from the RCMP under access-to-information legislation show it is costing taxpayers about $8,000 monthly for Elliott’s midtown apartment, electricity and furniture rental; plus thousands of dollars in real estate brokerage fees and travel back and forth to Ottawa.

Elliott lives in a $7,150 US two-bedroom apartment in the Corinthian, a luxurious 54-storey building on East 38th Street, complete with an indoor pool, health club and concierge service, all just a 10-minute walk from the United Nations.

From his first house-hunting trip in October 2011 until March 2013, taxpayers spent $159,207.79 on Elliott’s Manhattan expenses, including his rent, $10,421.61 in real estate commissions and $600 a month in furniture rental. Interpol covered $20,916.32 of that.

Elliott’s predecessor at the RCMP, Giuliano Zaccardelli, also works for Interpol, at the international police organization’s headquarters in Lyon, France, but that agency, not Canadian taxpayers, is paying his salary and expenses.

Elliott’s arrangement was made in an order-in-council — a cabinet order — in November 2011, appointing him as a special adviser to the minister of public safety, “to be styled Special Representative of INTERPOL to the United Nation,” with his pay reported at the time in the range of $213,700-$251,300.

When asked in September 2011, though, if it was appropriate for taxpayers to be paying Elliott’s salary, then-public safety minister Vic Toews said he didn’t know about it. “I don’t even know if it’s true,” he told the Toronto Star at the time.

The RCMP could not say this week why the RCMP is paying Elliott’s salary, directing queries to the Privy Council Office, which referred queries back to the RCMP.

But the Mounties said it is not unusual for police agencies to pay the salaries of Interpol employees.

“It is common occurrence for police forces around the world to have their employees seconded to Interpol,” said Cpl. David Falls. “There are currently some 220 individuals seconded to Interpol from national police and other law enforcement agencies around the world.”

In an interview on Thursday, Elliott said there’s not much of a story here.

“Generally things are newsworthy because they’re unusual,” he said. “I don’t think this is unusual at all. It is quite common practice not only for the RCMP but law enforcement agencies around the world to second to Interpol.”

Elliott said his expenses are paid under the same policy that applies to Canadian diplomats posted abroad.

“It’s not an unusual arrangement at all,” he said. “I think if there’s anything that may be a surprise to people it’s how expensive it is to live in New York.”