Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim has filed a defamation lawsuit against a former staffer and a local businessman alleging that they circulated unfounded rumours about an alleged DUI offence and corrupt cover-up.The suit argues that Sim's ex-campaign manager and chief of staff Kareem Allam and real estate developer Alexander George Tsakumis exhibited "a wanton and flagrant disregard for the plaintiff’s rights" and spread false statements "intended to injure the plaintiff as a public official, in his role as mayor." Sim is seeking aggravated and punitive damages from both men.According to the suit, Allam allegedly told Tsakumis during a private conversation in November 2023 — just months after leaving his position at City Hall — that Sim had been pulled over by officers with the Vancouver Police Department on suspicion of drunk driving, but was subsequently let go without being booked or cited. It was argued that Allam acted "with the intent that Mr. Tsakumis would make the statements to others, including on the internet.".Tsakumis did exactly that, laying out the allegations in a post on Twitter/X not long after that and adding, "Sim must be held accountable. He's a joke."An external probe was launched by the RCMP, which determined that both the claims regarding Sim being pulled over for drunk driving and the alleged cover-up were "baseless."Allam, who managed Sim's successful 2022 campaign, told the Vancouver Sun he believed the lawsuit was a "cheap distraction to distract voters in Vancouver," adding, "this is a page straight out of Donald Trump's playbook. Every time Donald Trump seems to get into trouble on something."During the recent city council by-election, candidates from Sim's party, ABC Vancouver, came up short. Over the course of the campaign, fliers were distributed citing the aforementioned rumours."Mayor Ken Sim had a DUI suspiciously 'cleared' by the VPD and subsequently poured millions of dollars into their budget, which is a major conflict of interest and likely corruption," they read.Tsakumis told the Sun he and Allam are prepared to go to court and "look forward to putting the mayor on the stand."
