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The RCMP has charged long time, and now retired, Toronto city bureaucrat Kypros (Kyp) Perikleous with being part of a violent gambling ring run by an ex-Hells Kitchen hitman. Perikleous lawyers says their client is innocent and will plead Not Guilty to the charges, which were announced in late March.
The mounties charged 16 people following raids on eight homes and five gambling dens throughout the Toronto area. Guns and $250,000 in cash were seized.
The arrests reportedly dismantled a massive online sports betting ring run by Paris Cristofuoro, considered by some to be among the most feared Hell's Angels associates. Cristofuoro nearly escaped hitmen back in 2018.
His enemies have grown to include members of the powerful Hells Angels chapters from Sherbrooke and Trois-Rivières, Que., which kicked him out of the international club that same year.
In 2006, Christoforou, along with another man, were sentenced to nine years in prison for a botched shooting at a Toronto sandwich shop that left bystander Louise Russo paralyzed.
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Perikleous was on the city payroll as director of transportation services but had to retire from his post in December due to heart issues. He had been on medical leave.
Police say Perikleous was illegally engaging in illegal bookmaking "for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organization, namely the Greek Syndicate to commit an indictable offence."
He is also charged with possession of more than $5000 cash and an improperly stored firearm.
The RCMP claim that Perikleous was "close enough to the centre of power to warrant the criminal organization charge".
Colleagues of Perikleous expressed shock when approached by the Toronto Sun this week.
According to the Sunshine List, Perikleous earned $188,102 while working for the city and $118,922 while on medical leave last year.
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