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During a brief court appearance in Ottawa Friday, Ortis said little apart from his name and that he understood the charges against him. He faces a total of seven charges, including five federal secrecy charges, for alleged offences dating back to 2015.

I’m quite surprised at the possibility he might be in big trouble

“The allegations are he obtained, stored and processed sensitive information, the Crown believes, with the intent to communicate that information to people he shouldn’t be communicating to,” Federal Crown prosecutor John MacFarlane said outside court.

He remains in custody pending a bail hearing.

Late Friday, Global News reported that the United States had tipped off Canadian authorities, sparking the investigation. Ortis’ arrest, Global reported, was part of a larger international security roundup and other arrests outside of Canada were expected.

“I can assure you the authorities are taking this extremely seriously but you might understand I have no comment to make,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters, soon after the charges against Ortis were made public.

A source confirmed to the National Post that Ortis had risen within the civilian ranks of the force and was appointed by former Commissioner Bob Paulson to the rank of director-general and oversaw an intelligence unit. While it is unusual for a civilian to reach such a high rank within intelligence, it is not unprecedented.

It is a highly specialized field and Ortis would have worked in the company of a group of civilian analysts who, the source said, are “really competent, sharp people.”