Calgary 911 employee charged in corruption case for sharing info with those involved in organized crime

An employee at the City of Calgary’s 911 service has been charged for intentionally sharing protected information for the purpose of organized crime, Calgary police said Thursday.

In December 2022, during an unrelated investigation, police learned that protected information had been released, and they began to look into who was responsible.

On Jan. 26, 2023, a woman was arrested, interviewed, and released without charges pending further investigation, police say.

Investigators then got search warrants for the woman’s devices and throughout last year, worked with Calgary Police Services’ Digital Forensics team to get access to the devices.

More than 200 pictures of sensitive data were found on the devices.

Police say the investigation found that the data was intentionally pulled from searches targeting people connected to organized crime and was then given to other people involved in organized crime.

The woman is employeed by Calgary 911 as a call taker for police and investigators believe she used the position to access the information.

No other employees of Calgary 911 are believed to have known or been involved with this activity, according to police.

“This level of breach of trust impacts all of us in public service, our officers, the public and the people we engage with every day whose private information is closely guarded. We take allegations such as this very seriously and are thankful to our partners at Calgary 911 for their swift response and co-operation throughout this investigation,” said Insp. Shawn Wallace in a statement.

On Thursday, Mariana Buonincontri was charged with breach of trust, fraudulently use or cause to be used directly or indirectly a computer system with intent to obtain, directly or indirectly a computer services, and wilfully commit mischief in relation to computer data.

The 58-year-old was released from custody and is set to appear in court on March 7.