two montreal executives cleared, one guilty in philippines bribery case
robert andrew walsh and rené bélange were acquitted, while philip timothy heaney was found guilty.
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robert andrew walsh, who was acquitted on thursday, created the groundbreaking ballistics technology 'that is now the gold standard for investigations of crime scenes where there is gun violence,' his lawyer says. he is seen at the montreal courthouse on oct. 30, 2024.
dave sidaway
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mon
one of the three former executives with a montreal company who were on trial in a case in which they were accused of paying bribes to secure contracts in the philippines was found guilty by a jury on thursday. the jury that heard the trial of robert andrew walsh, 82, philip timothy heaney, 65, both of montreal, and rené bélanger, 62, of st-lambert, emerged from their deliberations at the montreal courthouse and only found heaney guilty of the three charges he faced.
walsh, a mcgill university engineering graduate who created the groundbreaking ballistics technology behind the company, and bélanger were both acquitted of all the charges they faced.
the jury began deliberating on monday and reached their decision on thursday.
“my client is extremely relieved,” said eric sutton, the defence lawyer who represented walsh in the trial. “he was very shaken up when he got the summons to appear for bribery allegations. he is a man who had a stellar reputation who developed a technology that is now the gold standard for investigations of crime scenes where there is gun violence. it was just a terrible shock for him and he’s just happy it’s behind him.”
all three of the accused were senior officers with a company that was first called forensics technology inc. and later called ultra electronics forensic technology inc. (uefti). they each faced two counts under canada’s corruption of foreign public officials act. they were alleged to have offered or given benefits between 2013 and 2018 to public officials in the philippines or to other individuals who could influence public officials who made decisions on contracts. the technology was purchased for the philippine national police.
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they were also charged with fraud under the criminal code.
part of the investigation involved statements from two whistleblower witnesses, a man who worked as a consultant for uefti in the philippines between 2006 and 2017 and a general based in the philippines.
according to a decision delivered by superior court justice yvan poulin, before the trial began, part of the evidence in the case involved a 2008 meeting that heaney was a part of.
the consultant first contacted the canadian trade commissioner office in 2018 and later gave a sworn statement to the rcmp. he also provided “the rcmp with various relevant documents as well as two smartphones which he personally used to communicate with individuals concerning the procurement of the ballistic technology developed by uefti.”
the montreal company’s sale of their technology was carried out in three different phases. the first took place between 2006 and 2010, the second from approximately 2010 to 2014, and the third from approximately 2014 to 2018.
the consultant told the rcmp that uefti’s bribe payments occurred during the third phase and “he provided specific details to the effect that mr. heaney was advocating such payments as early as 2008.” the general confirmed what the consultant alleged when he gave a statement to rcmp.
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when the consultant referred to the meeting held in 2008, he said it was held at the general’s office and that another general attended it as well as a lawyer, heaney and another man. the consultant told the rcmp “that heaney drew a graphic on a board explaining how, in (the consultant’s) own words, ‘everyone involved in the ibis procurement from the highest officer down to the messenger must be processed if uefti wanted results.'”
“(the general) clarified in his statement that he was surprised that heaney brought up the need to process people. it was the first time heaney brought up the need to bribe people to achieve this project.”
when an rcmp investigator asked the general what “processing” meant, he said: “i immediately thought heaney was in the business of going overboard (…) he wanted us to corrupt people (…) this is not allowed, it is bribery.”
walsh testified in his defence before the jury and said that “processing” is a word often used to mean marketing in his business.
when the trial began in late october, prosecutor marie-eve moore told the jury the crown’s theory was that the accused allegedly paid bribes to secure contracts and then later added the cost of the bribes when they billed their clients.
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the investigation was done by the rcmp, and in 2023 michael mclean, 58, of beaconsfield, another former uefti executive charged in the case, pleaded guilty to a section of canada’s corruption of foreign public officials act. he received a 12-month sentence that he could serve in the community.
heaney’s case will enter the sentencing stage next week.
correction: a photo accompanying an earlier version of this report was misidentified as philip timothy heaney. the gazette regrets the error.
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