Nathan Jacobson, a philanthropist and businessman who was friendly with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, was arrested Thursday in his Toronto home on a provisional warrant granted after a request by the federal justice department.
Jacobson has been a fugitive from American justice since July, when he failed to attend a sentencing hearing in San Diego for conspiracy to commit money laundering, a charge he pleaded guilty to in 2008 in connection with an illegal internet pharmacy operation.In the House of Commons on Thursday, Liberal MP Judy Foote asked why it took the government three months to issue a warrant.“Did the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety sit on this case for months?” she asked. “The government cannot wait to rush two poor Nigerian foreign students out of the country, but their Conservative buddy walks around with impunity. Were they waiting for Jacobson’s donation cheques to clear before they acted? Why the special treatment? Why the hypocrisy?”Jacobson has donated about $10,000 to the Conservatives.Public Safety Minister Vic Toews responded by pointing out that NDP MP Pat Martin is an old friend of Jacobson.
“As Mr. Jacobson’s good friend from Winnipeg Centre, the NDP member, indicated, he was unaware of any of these legal difficulties that Mr. Jacobson was having,” he said. “I was similarly unaware, and I do not involve myself in the day-to-day matters involving the arrest of individuals. For that person to make that kind of accusation is simply scurrilous, and she knows better.”
The department of justice said Tuesday that the warrant was requested just a day before police acted.
“The warrant was requested on Oct. 24 and obtained and executed on Oct. 25,” said spokeswoman Carole Saindon. “We are not aware of an unusual delay.”
The warrant was granted by Justice Ian Nordheimer of the Ontario Superior Court, but it is sealed.
“The application record was sealed to protect information subject to privilege,” Saindon said in an email on Tuesday. “As early as tomorrow, Counsel will be providing the court with a copy of the application record that can be accessed by the public.”
Jacobson will seek bail before a judge Wednesday morning. He was denied bail on the day of his arrest.
Jacobson, who holds Canadian and Israeli passports, was photographed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a reception on Parliament Hill in March, as were about 200 other people.
In September, Harper’s director of communications, Andrew MacDougall, suggested they met in passing.
“I understand the prime minister may have met with Mr. Jacobson at a community event, as he meets thousands of Canadians from all walks of life each year,” he said.
Martin has been friends with Jacobson since high school, when they bonded over a shared affection for the music of American folk singer Phil Ochs.
He said Tuesday that Jacobson was tight with senior Conservatives.
“He was well-connected in Tory circles,” said Martin. “He used to speak quite knowledgeably about people in the party etc. They were very close friends. They were buddy buddy with him when everything was hunky dory. Now they don’t seem to remember his name. Nobody returns your phone calls when you’re in trouble.”
Martin said he feels bad for his old friend and intends to support him, and is considering filing an affidavit attesting to Jacobson’s character as a good family man.
Jacobson declined to speak to a reporter who visited him at the Metro West Detention Centre on Tuesday, rising from the table in his orange jumpsuit when he realized his visitor was a journalist.
He has not commented publicly since Postmedia brought his legal troubles to light in July.
Jacobson, who is originally from a modest background in Winnipeg, rose in the business world after making money selling cars, gasoline and cigarettes in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. In 2006, he and 17 others were charged in connection with Affpower, an online company that sold drugs to Americans without prescriptions.
In 2008, after pleading guilty to clearing $46 million worth of illegal credit card payments in the United States, Jacobson’s plea agreement was sealed by American authorities while he helped them with their investigation. After that secret plea deal, he became active in philanthropic and political circles.
Spokespeople for Kenney, Baird and Harper have said they were not aware he was under indictment.
Sources in the justice system, speaking off the record, say that by failing to show up for his sentencing as agreed, Jacobson may have jeopardized the agreement that would have had American prosecutors asking the judge to show leniency.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Stephen Maher
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