An Alberta RCMP officer has been charged with a national security investigation

A front-line Alberta RCMP officer accused of accessing police records systems and sharing information with the Republic of Rwanda has been charged as part of a national security investigation.

In a press release Tuesday, the RCMP said the federal police's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) arrested a front-line police officer who accessed “non-top secret RCMP recording systems” to assist a “foreign actor.”

RCMP confirmed the foreign actor involved is from the Republic of Rwanda.

Const. Eli Ndatuje is accused of breach of trust, unauthorized use of a computer and breach of trust in relation to protected information.

Ndatuje's first court appearance is scheduled for March 11 in Calgary Provincial Court.

The RCMP said it implemented measures to monitor, reduce and manage unauthorized disclosure of information after learning of the security breach.

“The RCMP is committed to combating foreign actor interference at all levels and is actively using all tools at its disposal,” the RCMP said in a news release.

“Foreign interference comes in many forms and it is vital that all organizations are aware of the potential harm at any level.”

The investigation is ongoing, the case has been sent to court. The RCMP said they would not be commenting at this time.

Any suspected outsider interference can be reported to local police or the RCMP National Security Information Line by calling 1-800-420-5805 or emailing [email protected].

Information breach

Last week, an Ontario court sentenced former RCMP intelligence officer Cameron Ortiz to 14 years in prison.

Ortiz was found guilty in November of four counts of violating the Official Secrets Act. He was convicted of disseminating or attempting to disclose classified information to four people.

Prior to his arrest in September 2019, Ortiz was the director general of the RCMP's National Intelligence Coordination Centre.

In January, a 58-year-old woman who worked as a 911 dispatcher in Calgary was charged with a series of organized crime offences.

Mariana Buonincontri was accused of sharing personal information of people involved in organized crime.

Buonincontri was charged with breach of trust, fraudulent use of a computer system to directly or indirectly obtain computer services, and willful tampering with computer data.

Calgary police say the charges are more serious because the accused worked as a 911 dispatcher.

CTV News Senior Political Correspondent Mike LeCouter with files