Project Traveller documents named city hall lobbyist
CBC News | Posted: May 9, 2014 11:56 PM | Last Updated: May 9, 2014
Search of Tim Lambrinos’ home turned up nothing
The connection between the high-profile police raids last summer known as Project Traveller and city hall were not limited to the video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack. CBC News has learned a city hall lobbyist is named in the police warrants.
Documents released by the court on Friday reveal a home in the city's west end belonging to Tim Lambrinos, a lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry in Toronto and a former executive assistant to Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, caught the attention of investigators last year.
Lambrinos also sits on the board of the Business Improvement Area that Mammoliti started.
- Death in Toronto condo helped spur Project Traveller probe
- Rob Ford documents suggest widening crack video investigation
- Rob Ford crack video: Death threats revealed in police wiretaps
The house, owned by Lambrinos and his brother Chris, was raided by police but turned up nothing. Neither man was charged.
Police filed a 76-page document last year detailing the investigation stemming from Project Traveller. Police suspected at the time they would find find four guns in the home that had been smuggled into Canada via Windsor by the Dixon Hill Bloods gang. But the search turned up nothing.
The Project Traveller raid yielded dozens of arrests in what was a lengthy guns and gangs investigation targeting the local Dixon Bloods gang. It also netted a copy of a video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, confirmed by police Chief Bill Blair in the fall.
Windsor resident Allyson Steill was charged with helping arrange gun sales. The documents suggest police used wiretaps and other surveillance.
- Rob Ford’s name came up on police wiretaps, but not his voice
- Rob Ford crack video hunt drew threats, offers of cash
Lambrinos said he is not in any way connected to Project Traveller. He concedes the police raided his home, but insists it was in error.
"I think we need to support the police in some aspects, but on the other hand, whatever judge pretended that there was some evidence about my home was erroneous," said Lambrinos.