Former entrepreneur Tony Accurso will pay $3.8 million to Montreal to settle the lawsuits for fraud and corruption brought against him by the City.
Posted at 5:16 p.m.
Updated at 9:22 p.m.
In 2018 and 2019, Montreal had filed two lawsuits totaling 44 million against the businessman and his companies, jointly with the former president of the executive committee of the City, Frank Zampino, and other entrepreneurs.
The executive committee agreed on April 13, as reported The Press last week, to settle the dispute for a fraction of the sums claimed.
In the absence of an agreement, the City risked receiving nothing at all, according to documents made public by the municipal administration last Friday.
“On January 9, 2020, the main companies of the Accurso Group filed insolvency proceedings in order to make a proposal to their creditors whose certain claims are in dispute. An initial order was issued by the court on July 8, 2020, which confirms their precarious financial situation and the suspension of appeals against them”, recall the municipal documents.
The Accurso Group’s main creditors are the federal and provincial revenue agencies, followed by the cities of Montreal and Laval.
“As of the end of 2020, meetings were held between the controller of the Accurso Group and this group of public creditors in order to discuss possible scenarios depending on the value of the assets available,” indicates the City of Montreal. Settlement scenarios were then formulated, depending on the proportionality of claims.
In February 2022, the trustee responsible for the file, Raymond Chabot, presented the public creditors with a final proposal.
“Nothing signed” in Laval
The Montreal officials who participated in the discussions recommended that the executive committee accept this proposal, noting that “the three other main creditors would be prepared to recommend its acceptance”.
On the Laval side, however, it is indicated that discussions are underway, but that there is still no agreement. “There is nothing signed,” says the mayor’s press attaché Stéphane Boyer, Alexandre Banville.
Receivables from Quebec City and Ottawa are partially guaranteed by sureties on real estate assets of the Accurso Group. Laval also holds a mortgage, while Montreal holds a second mortgage on the property of Tony Accurso.
“The agreement sought here is one of principle since the terms of payment from creditors have not yet been established and payments could be staggered over time depending on future real estate transactions on the land in the Group’s portfolio. Accurso”, still indicate the documents of the City of Montreal.
We also learn that Frank Zampino, also targeted by a lawsuit, is insolvent.
Last January, the city’s comptroller general, Alain Bond, revealed that Montreal had recovered nearly 50 million since 2015, sums overpaid due to fraud and corruption.