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.”
Judge says Borissov’s actions were ‘calculated’
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.
In a statement written by Borissov, read out loud in court last month by Mulcahy as part of the defence’s sentencing submissions, he said “the stress of the job, the long working hours, the traumatic events such as seeing abused people or dead bodies and severe assaults slowly took a toll on my physical and mental health.”
Mulcahy said that Borissov struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use, and in 2023 sought treatment at a rehabilitation facility.
These were factors Misener considered in her sentencing, the judge said, along with Borissov’s record with the Toronto police. He had received awards and commendations throughout his career and was considered a valued team member.
However, she also noted that if Borissov was struggling with PTSD and substance abuse at the time of his offences, she did not see any evidence that they had an effect on his crimes.
“These despicable actions were very calculated,” Misener said, agreeing with the Crown’s characterization of Borissov as an “inside man” who used his position of power to commit theft and fraud.
‘I think the judge got that right’: victim’s sister
Lisa Lawler, whose sister Lucinda was the woman Borissov stole the BMO credit card from in 2020, was glad to see the severity of the sentence he received.
She felt Misener accurately spoke to the depth of the harm caused by Borissov’s crimes.
She said she had once trusted Borissov and other officers alone in her sister’s home, even showing them how to lock up once they had finished their investigation.
Lawler says her trust in the police has taken an irreparable hit.
“I’m very glad that it’s finally come to fruition,” said Lawler. “How can he be so awful to take advantage of people when they’re at their most vulnerable? Honestly, I think the judge got that right.”
In August, Borissov, who was not allowed to leave the province and had to surrender any passports ahead of sentencing, was arrested at an airport after allegedly attempting to use a fraudulent passport to board a flight to Europe from Montreal, a Toronto police source told CBC News. The alleged violation of his bail conditions have yet to be tested in court.
Borissov has been in custody since this attempt to flee. He had been suspended with pay since his initial arrest in 2022, and has since been placed on unpaid leave as of Aug. 30, a police spokesperson said.
He will face a police disciplinary hearing for misconduct charges related to these offences, and is likely to lose his job.