Hip-hop artist agent Philippe Nazon, well known in Quebec, was arrested Tuesday for having kidnapped and tortured a victim last summer, over several days.
It was thanks to the issuance of an arrest warrant that agents of the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) were able to arrest the 41-year-old man, in the Sainte-Foy sector, around 6 p.m. .
As part of an investigation begun last June, Philippe Nazon was targeted by the authorities as being a suspect in a case of kidnapping and torture against a man in his thirties.
Philippe Nazon appeared at the Quebec courthouse before Judge Charles-Olivier Gosselin on Wednesday by videoconference while he was still in detention at the Victoria Park police headquarters. He is accused of aggravated assault, extortion, kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Another 41-year-old man, Richard Cardinal-Tremblay, was the subject of an arrest warrant for the same charges. He briefly appeared in person in the same room, since he was already detained and expected in court in connection with other cases of mischief and break and enter. The defendant appeared concerned about the proceedings, telling his lawyer: “with what’s happening, being in prison…”
The alleged facts allegedly took place over a period of six days, from June 23 to 29, 2023.
“The investigation continues and there could be other arrests in the coming days,” said SPVQ spokesperson Pierre-Olivier Lévesque.
Note that no charge of “torture” was ultimately filed, even if the police press release alleges that the victim “would have been tortured and confined over several days”. In the Criminal Code, the wording of this charge is very specific, because it specifies that the act must have been committed by a public official, such as a peace officer or a member of the Canadian forces, or with the consent or at the request of this last.
Photo taken from Philippe Nazon’s Facebook
Relatives with a troubled past
Philippe Nazon is known for having been the agent of the collectives Facekché – 187 and Nothsiderz, under the Explicit Productions banner, before becoming an agent for Éloquence Music Group. The Hip Hop Journal named him agent of the year in 2017.
In 2016, Le Journal reported that several of his protégés were considered close to the 187 street gang. To which Nazon responded that “there are no street gangs in Quebec.”
Note also that the studio in which he recorded the songs of his artists, in Limoilou, was the victim of a fire last November. If we initially suspected that a voluntary action was at the origin of the blaze, the Quebec City Fire Protection Service (SPCIQ) finally ruled out this theory in the days that followed.
The studio where Éloquence Music Group recorded its songs in Limoilou caught fire last November. The cause would ultimately be accidental.
Guy Martel, QMI Agency
Asked to comment on the situation, his business partner, Jean-Sébastien Girard, indicated that he was “strictly involved in the development of artistic projects” and that he had “no information that could [nous] be useful,” claiming to be the sole shareholder of Éloquence Music Group for more than a year.
And this, even if the name of Philippe Nazon was still found in the “contact” section of the organization’s website, Wednesday morning, and the latter still indicated that he worked in “Business management” at Éloquence Music Group on his Facebook profile .
– With the collaboration of Dominique Lelièvre and Kathryne Lamontagne