Former Vaughan mayor charged with breach of trust and municipal corruption

Thestar.com
Oct. 3, 2019
Raneem Alozzi

The former mayor of Vaughan, Michael Di Biase, has been charged with breach of trust and municipal corruption, according to the Ontario Provincial Police.

In April 2015, the OPP received a request for assistance from the York Regional Police Service in relation to a complaint involving allegations of corruption by a then-municipal councillor.

The referral came from the integrity commissioner for the City of Vaughan and a complaint from a private citizen.

Following the investigation conducted by the OPP Anti-Rackets Branch, Di Biase, 71, of Woodbridge, Ont. has been charged.

The OPP stated they “will not comment further in order to protect the integrity of the investigation and any ensuing court processes.”

Di Biase was first elected to the city’s council in 1986. He was mayor between 2002 and 2006, and the regional councillor and deputy mayor between 1989 and 2002 and between 2014 and 2017.

The Star previously reported that Di Biase resigned in May 2017 in the wake of an ethics probe that alleged the veteran politician repeatedly sexually harassed a city employee over a period of five months.

The allegations against Di Biase were made public in a report by the city’s integrity commissioner, Suzanne Craig, after a months-long investigation.

In her second investigation a month later, Craig found that Di Biase “used his position to improperly influence” the decisions of city officials and those with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to assist a local landowner in getting approvals to develop on environmentally sensitive lands.

Di Biase is scheduled to appear in court in Newmarket on Oct. 30, 2019.