By Gazette Staff
February 6th, 2026,
BURLINGTON, ON
The rot is spreading.
Seven Toronto police officer charged with criminal offenses; three from Peel Region are now being investigated.
A very hard day for senior police officers who have to explain how the level of corruption that is now evident was able to grow within the police forces they manage. Serve and Protect sounds a little limp right now.
On Thursday the York Regionbal Police held a press conference giving details of an investigations, code named Project South during which they announced that seven Tornto police officers were being charged.
None were residents of Burlington.
Barnhardt, 56, of Mississauga, is facing a total of 17 charges, the most of all officers accused.
Among the offences he has been charged with are peace officer accepting a bribe, breach of trust by public officer, unauthorized use of a computer and conspiracy to obstruct justice, as well as drug-trafficking-related and firearm-related charges.
Police launched their investigation on June 20, after an incident at the corrections officer’s home in York Region.
Barnhardt is one of four officers who were involved in an operation allegedly helmed by Brian Da Costa—a suspect police identified as a “key” player in a “sophisticated” drug-trafficking operation responsible for the exportation of cannabis and fentanyl. The other officers allegedly part of the operation have been identified as Sgt. Robert Black, Const. Saurabjit Bedi and Sgt. Carl Grellete.
Sgt. Robert Black
Black, 42, of Vaughan, is facing a total of four charges. He has been charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, counsel an uncommitted indictable offence: fraud exceeding $5,000, and possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine and Adderall.
Retired constable John Madeley Sr.
Madeley Sr., 55, of Barrie, is facing a total of 11 charges, including two counts of breach of trust by public officer and five counts of unauthorized use of computer.
He retired on April 1, 2025, after 29 years of service. When he retired, he was a constable with TPS’ 12 Division.
Sgt. Carl Grellete
Grellete, 49, of Vaughan, is facing a total of four charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, breach of trust by a public officer, mischief not exceeding $5,000 and harassment by repeated following of another person.
He has served the Toronto Police Service for 19 years and was assigned to 12 Division, police confirmed.
Const. Saurabjit Bedi
Police laid six charges against Bedi, 38, of Caledon, including peace officer conspiracy to accept a bribe, traffic in substance, conspiracy to commit public mischief – falsely accuse person, and two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Bedi was assigned to 12 Division, and has served Toronto Police for 12 years.
Const. Derek McCormick
McCormick, 57, of Toronto, has been charged with six offences: breach of trust by public officer, obstruction of justice and four counts of theft under $5,000.
In January, McCormick was accused of stealing bank cards, passports and government-issued IDs, some of which were reported stolen to Toronto police. Police said the thefts repeatedly occurred throughout October last year.
He was charged with four counts of theft under $5,000, breach of trust and obstruction of justice in January.
McCormick has served TPS for 28 years and was assigned to TPS’ 52 Division. He has been suspended with pay since his arrest last month. It is unclear if he remains suspended with pay following Thursday’s news conference.
Const. Elias Mouawad
Mouawad, 24, of Mississauga, is facing two charges, including breach of trust by public officer and unauthorized use of computer.
Toronto police confirmed Mouawad has been an active member for a year-and-a-half, and was assigned to the 11 Division.
John Madeley Sr. (left) and John Madeley Jr. (right), the father and son accused in Project South, a seven-month-long investigation into organized crime and corruption.
The charges have not been tested in court.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw confirmed Thursday that four of the seven officers charged have been suspended without pay but did not specify which.
The Police Association of Ontario called suspension without pay “the most serious interim measure available,” saying it results in financial, professional and reputational consequences for those officers.
In a post on X, the Toronto Police Association said legal support is not guaranteed for its members charged in criminal cases, as that is provided on a caseby case basis.
Three Peel police officers have been suspended in relation to Project South, a wide-ranging investigation revealed Thursday that saw seven Toronto police officers and one retired officer charged criminally.
“No officers from Peel Regional Police (PRP) have been charged in connection to Project South. The scope of the York Regional Police investigation is wide-reaching and ongoing,” said Const. Tyler Bell-Morena, Peel Regional Police.
“PRP has administratively suspended three officers, pending further investigation by YRP (York Regional Police). To protect the integrity of their investigation, we will not be providing additional comment.”
The investigation stemmed, authorities explained, from an alleged conspiracy to kill a senior corrections officer from the Toronto South Detention Centre at his home in Markham last year.
Two Toronto officers have also been suspended due to the ongoing investigation but not criminally charged.
The Chief of Police for Toronto and the Chief of Police for York Region both say they have never seen anything like this in their careers.
What isn’t being said publicly is – how deep is this corruption? How many police officers are involved?.
Both Chiefs said there was no word at any level as to what was taking place until they picked up a tip that police officers intended to kill a senior corrections officer from the Toronto South Detention Centre . The link there isn’t hard to see. Some criminals who were being held at the Detention Centre didn’t like the way they were treated and were taking revenge.
Things are wildly out of control for behavior to get to this level.
If what we are hearing is true, some very good detective work is being done to get to the bottom of this.
This is going to drag out for a number of years, and at some point there will be a full public hearing on what brought this about.
The public has every right to be concerned.
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