Craig Ruthowsky trial

Craig Ruthowsky liked to keep thousands of dollars of cash in his bedroom closet a Toronto jury heard today as the crown prosecutor began his cross examination of Hamilton police officer Craig Ruthowsky at his corruption trial.

Ruthowsky says most of the unexplained money that a forensic accountant found in his family finances came from his side business building pools. But the invoices and receipts from his side businesses, which also included construction and selling wholesale pool supplies, don’t add up to the $130 000 unexplained dollars, the crown pointed out.

“It’s true I wasn’t great with receipts and what-not”

Ruthowsky said he kept a float of $40 000 to $50 0000 in his closet, the sum of his profits and paid his tradespeople in cash. So why did he use his line of credit for 10’s of thousands of dollars in investments and vehicles and take on that liability when he had cash?

“It’s just something I do, a habit, forced savings, if you will,” Ruthowsky said.

Crown John Pollard suggested the cash-based pool business was a perfect front for laundering money and that Ruthowsky would know he couldn’t just take 10’s of thousands of dollars to the bank without answering uncomfortable questions.

Ruthowsky says he never took money from any informant, not one penny he said. He never planned any robbery with his informants and he never offered to transport drugs across the border for his informants. He says the accusations are ridiculous.