Cpl. Steve
Harten
Corporal Steve Harten joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2009 and was posted to Saskatchewan where he preformed General Duty operations. He transferred to Ontario in 2016 and joined the Serious and Organized Crime Unit at Toronto West Detachment. While a member of the Serious and Organized Crime Unit, Cpl. Harten was the lead investigator on Project ‘O’ Button, which was the successful arrest of Mr. Hotsauce, the darknet fentanyl dealer. During this investigation, Cpl. Harten led a team to successfully seize over 22 Bitcoin that was valued at $220,000 at the time. This the first of its kind in the RCMP. As a result of a successful prosecution, the 22 Bitcoin was forfeited to the courts, also a first in the RCMP. In 2019, Cpl. Harten transferred to the Toronto North Anti-Money Laundering Unit. Since joining the AML Unit, Cpl. Harten has worked on international money laundering investigations involving organized crime and virtual currency. Cpl. Harten has also worked on developing a private/public partnership between Law Enforcement and Virtual Asset Service Providers. Cpl. Harten is assisting with the development of a national training course on virtual currency for law enforcement. Recently, Cpl. Harten has been assigned to National Security where he is working on terrorist financing investigations.