Toronto police officer accused of stealing items from dead people cross-examined

The Toronto police officer accused of stealing personal belongings from the dead while on duty was back in court Thursday and spent the afternoon on the stand being cross-examined by the Crown.

Earlier this week, lawyers went over what occurred on Feb. 18, 2022, when Const. Boris Borissov was called to investigate the apartment of a missing man, who was later found to have died by suicide.

When Borissov searched the home, he found an empty box for a Tag Heuer watch. His phone records would reveal that the constable Googled the brand's name shortly after.

On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Samuel Walker questioned Borissov about what he found in the bedroom of the missing man when he and the man's brother searched it.

Borissov testified that he saw a "big watch box" and an "empty box of Tag Heuer watch."

Walker argued that it did not make sense that an officer was "focusing on watches" during a missing person's investigation. He went on to suggest that it would only take a second to swipe a watch when the other people in the room were not paying attention.

Borissov was also questioned about why police searches found three illegal GPS jammers and one radio-frequency jammer in vehicles he had purchased from a man identified as Zvedzdomir Mollov.

The constable is also accused of allegedly taking a credit card linked to a separate missing person and giving it to Mollov in April 2022. Mollov allegedly used it to make a purchase at a Mississauga store. Following further investigation, police discovered that Borissov and Mollov allegedly obtained vehicles fraudulently using the stolen credit card from the missing man, who was later found deceased.

During Thursday's cross examination, Walker delved into the fact that Borissov had conducted checks on the vehicles and determined that one might have been stolen while another was previously owned by a man facing arrest warrants.

"As a police officer, having learned all of this information, did you not think to yourself, this is suspicious?" Walker asked. He further interrogated Borissov to see if he did not think it "looks like some kind of stolen car ring is going on."

The officer said no. The Crown finished his line of inquiry by asking whether Borissov did not report what he found about the vehicles because, in some way, "you were helping."

Borissov has pleaded not guilty to charges of theft, fraud, breach of trust by an official, obstruction of justice, and unauthorized use of a computer system. The police veteran of 16 years has been suspended with pay since February 2022.

With files from Alex Arsenych