Crown wraps evidence in trial of Alberta Mountie accused of leaking police data to Rwanda
Const. Eli Ndatuje faces charges under Criminal Code and Security of Information Act after allegedly passing CPIC database records to Rwandan government in April 2022.
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The Crown finished presenting its case Friday in a judge-alone trial at Red Deer's Court of King's Bench against Const. Eli Ndatuje, 39, charged under the Criminal Code and Security of Information Act with leaking police data to a foreign government.
Ndatuje, stationed in Red Deer in April 2022, allegedly searched the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database and passed the information to the Rwandan government. He pleaded not guilty. The defence maintains Ndatuje conducted the search only to help a family friend at the Rwandan High Commission locate a missing housekeeper who worked at the Rwandan ambassador's residence in Ottawa. That housekeeper was found safe days later, and CPIC showed no record of her being reported missing.
Investigators believed Ndatuje was manipulated by someone at the High Commission. In an audio recording made during arrest in early 2024, an RCMP investigator told Ndatuje: "The concern is that you told different people different versions ... that's the bottom line. The whole issue is foreign interference." Ndatuje responded: "I was never a spy" and said "in hindsight, it's not a good look." When questioned why he searched CPIC, Ndatuje said: "I queried him because I was curious. He didn't ask me to."
Cellphone records showed calls and texts between Ndatuje and a Rwandan embassy official around the time of the database search, though the records do not reveal what was discussed. The defence argued the communications were about resolving travel document issues for Ndatuje's wife ahead of a planned family trip to Rwanda later in April 2022.
RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) expressed concern about why embassy staff didn't report the missing housekeeper directly to Ottawa police instead of contacting Ndatuje. When INSET attempted to reach Rwandan High Commission officials on two occasions for statements, the Rwandan government declined to respond.
Ndatuje fled war-torn Uganda as a teenager and finished his education in Ottawa. In 2011, he briefly interned with Rwanda's Ministry of Justice. The federal RCMP has declined to disclose his current employment status, citing the Privacy Act. The defence case details and timing of closing arguments or verdict remain unknown.
Did investigators find evidence the search was initiated by someone at the Rwandan High Commission, or was it genuinely Ndatuje's own curiosity?
What data was actually accessed and passed on, and to whom specifically at the Rwandan government?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
By the numbers
When did Const. Eli Ndatuje allegedly search the CPIC database?
April 2022. Ndatuje was stationed in Red Deer at the time and is accused of passing information from the Canadian Police Information Centre database to the Rwandan government.
When was Ndatuje arrested?
Early 2024. An RCMP investigator made an audio recording during his arrest in which concerns about foreign interference and inconsistent statements were discussed.
