Police wiretapped the phone of former CDN-NDG borough mayor Michael Applebaum when he was suspected of being corrupt.

They also convinced his chief of staff, Hugo Tremblay, to wear a wire in an attempt to get Applebaum on tape incriminating himself. 

Tremblay testified 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.

He also explained how he began co-operating with police after he was confronted with evidence of his complicity in those acts.

Tremblay agreed in April 2013 to wear a wire in conversations with Applebaum, but he told police he did not think it would work because Applebaum was very cautious with his words.

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.

"I had mics all over me. I knew about UPAC, knew Applebaum was mistrustful, all of a sudden he pats me down. Bizarre," said Tremblay.

In that conversation Tremblay described being questioned by UPAC and the agency's questions about kickbacks for zoning changes.

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."

"They're now at city hall, calling guys in engineering, to grab all of them, bringing them in for questioning."

In another conversation, when Tremblay began talking about the maintenance contract for the new NDG Sports Complex, SOGEP, and Dessau representative Patrice Laporte, Applebaum got nervous.

"If you've done something illegal, you have to take responsibility. What did you do? What did you take?"

Applebaum was arrested a few days later, forcing him to resign as mayor of Montreal.

The trial continues all week.