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Toronto – Toronto public housing officials have launched an investigation and asked Toronto Police to get involved amid allegations that tenants paid bribes to jump the waiting list for larger apartments.

The probe may have been sparked by a 52-year-old tenant at a Toronto Community Housing building in the Jane and St. Clair area. He tells the Globe about waiting since 1996 for a two-bedroom subsidized apartment while other tenants appeared to jump the queue. He, along with his wife and two young boys, lives in a one-bedroom unit.

The man says other tenants told him they paid $3,000 to $6,000 to jump the queue to get a larger apartment.

A spokesman for Toronto Community Housing confirms that an investigation has been started and that police have been called, but couldn’t get into details citing the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.