OTTAWA — A pair of Ontario businessmen say they each lent $200,000 to former Liberal MP Raj Grewal in the months before he invited them to join events during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s 2018 trip to India.
Andy Dhugga, the CEO of Brampton’s New Millenium Tire Center, told an Ottawa court Thursday that Grewal asked him for money in the summer of 2017, saying he needed it to pay off a different loan.
Dhugga and another local businessman, Yusuf Yenilmez, were both on a shortlist of five guests Grewal invited to participate in a private meet-and-greet with Trudeau in New Delhi, a former Liberal political staffer testified earlier.
The beleaguered former MP is on trial for two breach of trust charges related to a series of loans that he took out to pay off major gambling debts and that he failed to disclose to the federal ethics commissioner.
The Crown is alleging he used his political office for personal gain, offering access to the events and help with immigration files in exchange for the money.
Per their testimony, neither Dhugga nor Yenilmez asked Grewal very many questions about why he was seeking such large amounts of money from them, and both said they were not aware of any gambling until they received visits from police who were investigating Grewal’s affairs.
Each recounted receiving full repayment from Grewal only after telling him about those police visits.
Through an interpreter, Dhugga described himself as a “good family friend” who had known the Grewal family for a long time, and said that in his community, people lend money to each other when it is needed, recounting several other instances where he had lent similarly large sums to others.
In addition to getting a call about the trip from Grewal’s staff, he said he received verbal invitations to join Trudeau’s delegation from the father of Liberal MP Ruby Sahota, the husband of Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu and a staffer in the office of then-minister Navdeep Bains.
Dhugga noted that he also previously travelled to India on a trip with Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
Yenilmez, the CEO of construction company Zgemi Inc., told the court Monday that for his part, he provided Grewal with a loan without knowing the reason he needed the money, describing him as a trusted friend and employee.
He testified that the $200,000 cheque he provided to Grewal was dated Feb. 2, 2018 — just two weeks before the New Delhi reception.
The Crown has not established whether either witness expected any favours or special access as a result of the loans, but both are set to resume their testimony later and neither has been cross-examined.
Yenilmez’s invitation to the New Delhi party where he had his photo taken with Trudeau had already come under scrutiny in 2018, because of Grewal’s disclosure to the federal ethics commissioner that he received employment income from Zgemi.
Opposition MPs at the time demanded that the federal ethics commissioner investigate on the basis that Grewal seemed to have given his employer preferential treatment.
There was already a firestorm at the time over the Prime Minister’s Office’s ability to scrutinize the guest lists for receptions Trudeau attended.
One man who attended two of those receptions in India turned out to have been convicted in a Canadian court in 1986 of the attempted murder of an Indian politician — a fact that played into Indian politicians’ accusations that Trudeau was sympathizing with extremist elements during the trip.
In late 2018, Grewal’s gambling problem came to public light and he resigned from the Liberal caucus, having served just over three years as the party’s representative in Brampton East.
At the time, he said that he sought treatment for his gambling addiction, that he only sought loans from his friends and family and that he had paid off all his debts.
He did not run for re-election in 2019.
The RCMP charged Grewal in 2020 with four counts of breach of trust and one count of fraud over $5,000, but only two breach of trust charges remain.
His trial is scheduled to continue through the end of July, with Dhugga’s cross-examination expected to begin Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2022.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
