Hugo Tremblay said he accepted $55,000 in bribes on behalf of former Montreal mayor Michael Applebaum, as he faced cross examination on Wednesday.

Tremblay, Applebaum’s former chief-of-staff, testified in court that Applebaum, who was borough mayor of CDN-NDG at the time, seemed so suspicious that, Tremblay said Applebaum never directly incriminated himself. 

In fact, during Tremblay's third attempt to corner Applebaum, he was given a script to follow by his police handlers, but Tremblay went off-script, and he told the court Applebaum tried to pretend he had no clue what he was talking about when the issue of the bribes was raised. 

The matter remains Tremblay's word against Applebaum's. 

Tremblay also testified on Wednesday that he consulted with a psychiatrist due to the strain of collaborating with police to incriminate former NDG-CDN borough mayor Michael Applebaum, Tremblay revealed during cross examination on Wednesday.

Tremblay, Applebaum’s chief of staff, told the prosecutor that he was advised by his police handlers to seek help to deal with the heavy stress, and that he might not be present today if he hadn’t.

Police convinced Tremblay to wear a wire back in 2013 in an attempt to record Applebaum making incriminating comments on tape. Authorities also wire-tapped Applebaum’s phone when he was suspected of accepting bribes.

Tremblay agreed to wear the wire when confronted with his complicity in the mayor’s conduct. He told police he did not think it would work because the former mayor was very cautious with his words.

Tremblay added Wednesday that Applebaum did not like to hold meetings in his office, as he suspected it was bugged.

The recordings were played in court on Tuesday, the second day of Applebaum's trial on 14 counts of breach of trust, conspiracy, and corruption

In the first conversation, Tremblay told Applebaum he was worried about an upcoming meeting with investigators, and that Applebaum reassured him UPAC was talking to many people, and that "those people" were questionable.

When they met again, he suspected that Applebaum thought he was wearing a recording device.

When Tremblay told Applebaum he was being accused of participating in criminal activity, the borough mayor dismissed the idea.

"That's completely ridiculous," said Applebaum, saying there wasn't even a project, let alone a zoning change in the works.

He said police would not be able to do anything unless they found physical proof of corruption -- and by that he meant cash.

"In order to charge you, they've got to see the money," said Applebaum.

"They can come up with all kinds of lies, all kinds of bullshit, all kinds of things. In the end they have to have the money."

Applebaum also told Tremblay that police were trying to get him to "shit on other people."

Applebaum was arrested a few days after a recorded phone call about the maintenance contract for the new NDG sports complex, SOGEP, forcing him to resign as mayor of Montreal.

In court Wednesday, the judge allegedly shushed Applebaum as he conferred with his lawyers during Tremblay’s cross-examination.

The trial continues all week.