Toronto police officer sentenced to 7 years in prison for theft, falsifying reports

A Toronto police officer found guilty of misusing police resources, falsifying police reports, and stealing from dead people will serve seven years in prison, an Ontario judge ruled today.

"Mr. Borissov's conduct in stealing from the very persons he was duty-bound to protect and exploiting the investigative powers with which he was entrusted must be met with a stern denunciatory and deterrent response," said Justice Mary Ellen Misener, who found Const. Boris Borissov guilty of all 15 charges for which he was tried in May.

"Otherwise, public confidence in the police and in the justice system will be eroded."

While investigating the disappearance of a man in 2022, Borissov stole a TAG Heuer luxury watch from the man's home as his brother discovered a suicide note in the next room. He attempted at least two times to sell the watch, which was never recovered. After the man's jacket and wallet were discovered on the Toronto waterfront, Borissov stole his TD credit card and trafficked it to an accomplice who used it fraudulently at a butcher shop. 

Police were alerted when the card was used – not knowing the missing man had died – and Borissov volunteered to investigate. He falsified a police report to cover up his involvement, saying he did not recognize the accomplice or the vehicle, which police later found was registered to Borissov. 

Borissov also stole a BMO credit card from a woman in 2020, shortly after finding her dead in her apartment while the investigation into her cause of death was ongoing. He also possessed a stolen vehicle and misused police databases to conduct searches looking into that vehicle, others, and his accomplice.

In addition to his prison sentence, Borissov has been ordered to pay a $2,800 victim fine surcharge and provide a DNA sample for police databases.

Addressing the court Tuesday, Misener condemned Borissov's "profound and repeated abuses of police power," making a point to say she found it "reprehensible" that he breached the public's trust in stealing from deceased victims he was sworn to protect.

"In my view, Mr. Borissov's thefts are at the very highest end of moral blameworthiness," said Misener before the court on Tuesday.

"It is difficult to conceive of more vulnerable victims than a suicidal missing person and a dead person."

Borissov, 50, wore a white button-down shirt and shorts with a dark jacket as he listened to the sentencing from behind plexiglass. He remained silent throughout the proceedings after exchanging a brief greeting with Misner.

Crown prosecutor Samuel Walker had asked for a total of seven years imprisonment, while Borissov's defence lawyer, Joanne Mulcahy, requested a 18-month conditional sentence. 

Walker did not respond to a request to comment on the outcome of the sentencing.

Mulcahy declined an interview request from CBC News and said Borissov has requested that his family's privacy be respected.