'Master manipulator': Lawyer, judge question Forseti police informant's credibility

A provincial court judge in Saskatoon describes a police informant at the centre of massive biker bust as a "master manipulator" and a "large-scale drug dealer."

The bust, known as Project Forseti, targeted members of the Hells Angels and Fallen Saints motorcycle clubs. The informant was Noel Harder.

Forseti netted millions of dollars worth of drugs and hundreds of guns during early morning raids in January 2015. 

A written judgement in a case related to Project Forseti this week by Judge Shannon Metivier called Harder's credibility into question.

"He is a person with little conscience who brought highly addictive and dangerous drugs into this province for financial gain," Metivier wrote in her written judgement in the case of Clint James McLaughlin.

McLaughlin was one of the people caught up in the Forseti bust — a man with a criminal past who is already serving time for kidnapping and assault.

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Project Forseti has already led to convictions.

One of them includes Rob Allen, a member of Hells Angels who has already been convicted of cocaine trafficking.

Another was Justin Smith, a member of a lower-level biker gang, the Fallen Saints, who was sent to prison for 18 years for his role in selling drugs and guns.

A host of charges against other members of the Fallen Saints, including criminal organization charges, are still before the courts.

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McLaughlin faced 17 weapons-related offences after the Forseti raids. 

Judge Metivier found him not guilty of any of the weapons offences, at least partly because she said she had a hard time believing Harder and his testimony against him. 

In fact, the judge said she had "serious concerns about the credibility or reliability of all three witnesses," Harder included. 

"I am left with the distinct impression that I still don't have the full story of what happened," she wrote.

Lawyer Morris Bodnar, who represented a Hells Angel member who was caught up in the raids and eventually convicted of cocaine trafficking, says it's not surprising at all that Noel Harder's credibility is under question. 

"They made a deal with the devil," Bodnar said. 

"He had no credibility so far, so he has no credibility now." 

Harder officially began working with police in 2014 after he was caught with illegal guns. This was a year before the Forseti raids. Eventually, Harder would emerge as a central figure in the police case against the biker gangs. 

In court earlier this year, it was revealed that Harder was paid $300,000 to work as a police informant. 

​'It's a credibility contest': gang expert

Julian Sher is the senior producer with CBC's The Fifth Estate and has written several books about Canadian biker gangs, including the Hells Angels. 

Sher says the credibility of police informants is always central to biker and organized-crime investigations. 

"Let's face it, snitches and informants who are working inside investigations related to bikers and organized criminals are not going to be choir boys," Sher said. 

Sher says the key to convicting organized crime members is not painting the informants as innocent, but being fully honest about an informant's criminal past.

Sher also said having corroborating evidence to back up what the informant says is key. 

"It's not a popularity contest, it's a credibility contest. The only way to maintain your credibility is never to lie and to have supporting evidence," Sher said. 

Criminal organization charges headed to trial 

When contacted by CBC, the Crown prosecutor's office said it does not comment on ongoing investigations.

The Saskatoon Police Service has not yet responded to a request for comment. 

Several Fallen Saints members, including club president Mark Nowakowski, are scheduled for trial later this year. 

Nowakowski is up on charges relating to being a member of a criminal organization.

Harder's testimony will likely be part of that investigation. 

According to Bodnar, much of the Crown's case in the remaining cases against Fallen Saints members could rely on wiretaps and the testimony of other witnesses.

It's unclear, then, how questions about Harder's credibility could factor into those remaining cases.