Posted on: May 27, 2024, 10:06h.
Last updated on: May 27, 2024, 10:07h.
A veteran Toronto city official has denied being a member of a Greek organized crime group allegedly run by former Hells Angels hitman, The Toronto Star reports.
Kypros Perikleous, 55, was a senior director of transportation services for the city. He worked for the city council in various capacities for 37 years, according to his LinkedIn page. He had been on long-term medical leave with a heart condition until he retired last December.
But according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), during this time Perikleous was engaging in illegal bookmaking “for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organization – namely, the Greek Syndicate – to commit an indictable offence.”
Perikleous has also been charged with possessing proceeds of crime worth more than $5K and of improper storage of a firearm.
Center of Power
The Mounties allege he was “close enough to the center of power in the organization to warrant the criminal organization charge.”
Perikleous’ lawyer, Brian Greenspan, says his client is innocent of all charges and will contest them in court.
He looks forward to receiving disclosure and the opportunity to respond to any suggestion of impropriety,” Greenspan said. “As to the storage of firearms at his home, these were licensed and legal and stored in accordance with published guidelines provided by the RCMP.”
Perikleous was among 16 people arrested in April across numerous properties in the cities of Toronto, Scarborough, and Vaughan. Police seized firearms, illegal gaming devices, jewelry, and over $250K in cash during the raids.
Botched Mob Hit
Prosecutors believe the leader of the network is Paris Christofouro, whereabouts unknown. Christofouro is a former Hells Angels enforcer who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2006 for a botched shooting that left a passerby paralyzed.
In 2018, the Star reported that two attempts had been made on Christofouro’s life, forcing him to go underground. In August 2017, a hooded gunman opened fire on Christoforou as he sat parked in his car outside a Toronto Starbucks.
Sense of Disbelief
If convicted, Perikleous faces up to five years in prison for illegal bookmaking and up to two for each of the additional two charges.
Former city councilor Mary-Margaret McMahon, who is now a provincial lawmaker, told the Star she struggled to reconcile the allegations with the man she once worked alongside.
She remembered “Kyp” as someone who was “super friendly, earnest, hardworking, and keen to find solutions to help build a better city.”