Project South: Chronology of one of the largest corruption scandals in Toronto police history - Toronto Star

Newly released court records provide an in-depth timeline of how the case has unfolded. 

A still from police surveillance video as officers thwart an alleged assassination attempt of a jail official — an incident that sparked the sprawling Project South investigation into police corruption.

In the early hours of June 20, 2025, police say they foiled the attempted assassination of a Toronto jail official at his home in Markham. Within a week, police had traced the case back to one of their own: Toronto Const. Timothy Barnhardt, who investigators allege took bribes to leak confidential information to criminals, who used the information to commit violent crimes.

Over the next seven months, the Project South investigation would uncover a sprawling web of alleged police corruption, drug dealing and extortion. Newly released court records provide an in-depth chronology to how one of the largest Toronto police scandals in history unfolded.

The timeline below is based on the allegations contained in court documents and police statements, which have not been tested in court. None of the individuals mentioned have been tried or convicted of the alleged offences.

Barnhardt’s lawyer declined to answer questions from the Star. “We will defend these allegations in a courtroom where facts — not headlines — decide the outcome,” Jason Dos Santos wrote in an emailed statement.

Unless otherwise noted, lawyers for each of the accused either declined to comment or did not respond to questions from the Star.

Barnhardt, while off-duty, allegedly does a Ministry of Transportation (MTO) search with the licence plate number belonging to a Toronto South Detention Centre official.

Accused gunman-for-hire Keajean Doman texts alleged accomplice Median Jackson a cropped picture of an MTO query showing the jail official’s address.

Gunmen show up at the jail official’s Markham home and threaten a family member. They flee before police arrive. The official tells police he believes he was targeted for his work at the jail. He names several inmates who have demonstrated hostility towards him, including Gurpreet Singh.

York Regional Police officers are canvassing the area of the jail official’s home when they see the suspected gunmen’s car, a blue Acura TLX. They begin surveillance and, when they realize the car is returning to the jail official’s home around 2:30 a.m. the following morning, officers orchestrate a “high-risk vehicle stop.” Almar Heath, a 28-year-old man, and two teenage boys are arrested.

In court documents, police say they have evidence suggesting the attempted hit on the jail official may have been ordered and directed by Singh, an inmate at Toronto South fighting extradition to the U.S. on charges that he co-ordinated large cocaine shipments for ex-Olympian and accused drug lord Ryan Wedding. Singh has not been charged in relation to the attempted assassination.

York police discover Barnhardt searched the jail official’s licence plate without any legitimate reason. They contact Toronto police’s professional standards unit and make them aware of the “Project South” investigation.

Investigators say a photograph of a licence plate, allegedly taken inside a Toronto jail, set off a chain of events that ended with masked gunmen at a public servant’s door.

York officers request a list of all police database searches by Barnhardt since Jan. 1, 2025. They find 17 occasions when he conducted searches while off-duty.

Barnhardt allegedly conducts an MTO search of a licence plate. Three days later, a gunman fired shots at the subject’s home.

Barnhardt allegedly conducts an MTO query of a man with gambling debts to organized crime groups, obtaining his home address and other information. Two days later the man’s home is targeted in a shooting.

Police begin wiretapping Barnhardt and other suspects’ phones.

Barnhardt continues to conduct MTO searches of individuals later targeted in shootings, police say.

While under police surveillance and wiretaps, Barnhardt and accused drug trafficker Brian Da Costa allegedly discuss plans to open black-market cannabis dispensaries and erotic massage parlours with police protection. Court records allege that Barnhardt was later recorded discussing the scheme with three fellow Toronto cops: Sgt. Robert Black, Sgt. Carl Grellette and Const. Saurabjit Bedi.

Doman, the accused gunman-for-hire, is arrested after he allegedly shot 13 bullets into the front door of a house in Vaughan. No one was home at the time. Officers from the York Regional Police holdup Unit were conducting surveillance in the area and directly witnessed the shooting. Police have since alleged that he used information that can be traced back to Barnhardt to carry out four shootings in September.

Barnhardt, under audio and visual surveillance, is observed in his police cruiser running queries of police databases on his vehicle’s computer and taking pictures with a phone. Later, Da Costa joins Barnhardt in the cruiser and takes pictures of the screen before handing Barnhardt multiple $100 bills, which Barnhardt tucks into the front pocket of his police vest.

Dequon Lemonious is arrested in connection to a shooting at a house in Vaughan. Lemonious was subsequently charged with six similar shootings at various locations in southern Ontario.

Project South investigators begin monitoring interactions between Singh, the Toronto South inmate, and a corporal at the jail named Nishwant Dosanjh, whom they learn is Singh’s former romantic partner. Investigators track frequent, extended conversations between the two inside the jail. Dosanjh has not been charged with any crime and has denied any wrongdoing.

As the scope of Project South widens, York police expand their surveillance to include several Toronto police officers with whom Barnhardt has been observed or recorded allegedly dealing or discussing drugs. One of those officers is Const. Saurabjit Bedi. On this date, while being recorded by police, Bedi allegedly sold cocaine to Barnhardt and then asked him if he “looked f——ed” because “I’m going to daycare now.” Barnhardt told him to put sunglasses on. “You got … what do you call them … cocaine eyes.”

Barnhardt is recorded by police allegedly selling Da Costa police jackets and other articles of police clothing.

Retired Toronto police Const. John Madeley Sr. is arrested at his Barrie home and charged for allegedly conducting police database searches for an organized crime group involved in illegal gambling prior to his retirement.

Following Madeley Sr.’s arrest, several Project South targets are recorded speaking to each other about a potential “rat” in their midst. Barnhardt, on a police wiretap, is allegedly heard discussing Madeley’s arrest with a colleague, telling him “snitches get stitches.”

York police arrest Da Costa at a commercial plaza in Mississauga. Officers seize 169 pounds of cannabis “believed to be destined outbound for a European location.”

Barnhardt and five other Toronto police officers — Black, Grellette, Bedi, John Madeley Jr. and Elias Mouawad — are arrested. (Const. Derek McCormick and Madeley Sr., the retired cop, were charged weeks before.) In all, Project South investigators laid 170 charges against 28 people. Speaking at a news conference after the charges were announced, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw called it a “painful and unsettling moment.” Barnhardt, 56, is the only police officer not granted bail and remains behind bars.

Prosecutors signal that they will drop some of the lesser charges against the Project South accused and obtain direct indictments for all but one of the arrested officers. This means the case will bypass preliminary inquiries and go directly to trial in Superior Court. No trial date has been set.

The lawyer for Elias Mouawad, one of the officers charged in the Project South case, says his client has signalled his intention to plead guilty.

McCormick pleads guilty to breach of trust and theft under $5,000, marking the first conviction of a Toronto police officer connected to Project South. The 57-year-old, who had already resigned from the police service, was given a 10-month conditional sentence, including five months of house arrest. McCormick admitted to pocketing a cellphone that had been turned into a police station in order to give it to Barnhardt, from whom he also admitted to buying Percocet pills to feed a painkiller addiction.

Mouawad, another officer charged with conducting an unauthorized computer search, has also signalled his intention to plead guilty. His lawyer told reporters Mouawad’s actions were “relatively minor” and unrelated to the broader Project South allegations.

Brendan Kennedy is a reporter on the Toronto Star’s investigative team. Reach him via email: bkennedy@thestar.ca