Auto body repairer buys penthouse after receiving $5M ​​tax refund he wouldn’t have been entitled to

Revenue Canada paid a $5 million tax refund to the owner of a modest body shop in the Laurentians who would not have been entitled to it, and who immediately bought a luxurious penthouse.

And as if that weren’t enough, this coachbuilder, Yvan Drapeau, would then have fraudulently sold the condo to a company now chaired by a real estate developer from Joliette accused of attempted murder, Jean-François Malo.

Our Bureau of Investigation has discovered that the federal tax authorities are actively trying to pick up the slate after having deposited on March 27, without asking too many questions, the tidy sum of $4,997,433.72 in a commercial bank account opened last month. previous by Yvan Drapeau.

Eight days later, the tax authorities realized that they had been the victim of “manoeuvres that were questionable to say the least, even fraudulent” (see opposite) from Drapeau, owner of Distribution Carflex inc., a tiny body shop on Curé-Labelle Boulevard in Mirabel.

But it was too late. Drapeau, a resident of Saint-Lin–Laurentides, had already “begun to squander or use the refund without right”, according to Revenue Canada.

He sells the Penthouse

In particular, he bought an apartment in a prestigious building in Old Montreal for more than $2 million, mortgage-free, before selling it for $0 to a numbered company he controlled. This assignment was made against “good and valid considerations already paid”, without further details.

However, four days after the transfer, it was none other than Jean-François Malo, accused of having attempted to assassinate the lawyer Nicholas Daudelin in March 2020, who became the president and sole director of the numbered company. penthouse owner.

• Listen to the interview with Jean-Louis Fortin, director of the Quebecor Bureau of Investigation on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show via QUB-radio :

This preposterous story has given rise to several lawsuits in recent weeks. The tax authorities believe that the transfer of the penthouse was made “in fraud of the rights of Her Majesty”.

On April 19, the federal department obtained an interim order from Judge Denis Gascon of the Federal Court to assert its rights to the condo. This will allow him to recover the building to reimburse part of the sums owed to him, unless the situation changes.

Account frozen

Two weeks earlier, TD Bank, at the request of the tax authorities, had frozen the bank account in which the $5 million tax refund had been deposited.

Yvan Drapeau in turn filed an application for an injunction against TD Bank, accusing it of having blocked access to funds “without valid reason and without any serious reason”. He tried, without success so far, to empty the account of the remaining $3 million to transfer this sum to a notary in Trois-Rivières. He even claims $100,000 from the bank for the “trouble, trouble and inconvenience” allegedly caused to him.

On April 4, a TD representative contacted him to ask about these unusual transactions. Mr. Drapeau assures him that he “explained all the steps” and “provided all the supporting documents”.

“We’ve been waiting for this comeback for a long time. [d’impôt]“, he notably wrote to him in an email the next day, explaining that he was in the process of merging several companies.

The parties must return to court on May 30. On this occasion, the company chaired by Malo will assert its rights, argues its lawyer Karl-Emmanuel Harrison.

“The company 9488-0846 Quebec inc. intends to demonstrate before the Court that the deed of transfer of April 3, 2023 was not made in fraud of the rights of anyone,” said Mr. Harrison in a written statement he sent to us.

“Questionable, even fraudulent” maneuvers

According to the tax authorities, to unduly benefit from a $5 million tax refund, Yvan Drapeau used the following “questionable, even fraudulent” maneuvers, in the space of a few weeks, starting in February 2023:

1. On February 17, he filed an amended return for the year 2021 to add a taxable capital gain of more than $16 million to his Carflex business.
2. On February 22, the CRA therefore claimed the payment of $7.3 million in tax in connection with this amended tax return.
3. Also on February 22, immediately after receiving Carflex’s new notice of assessment, Drapeau objected to the payment demanded of him by the tax authorities. ” Good morning ! An error has crept into the declaration […]. Please open the opposition file to avoid problems, ”he wrote in particular to the ARQ.
4. On March 21, despite his objection to his amended 2021 declaration, he filed a declaration for the year 2022, in which he declared that Carflex had paid a dividend of $13 million. This entitled Carflex to a refund of $5 million.
5. On March 27, the CRA paid the $5 million into a bank account that Drapeau had opened 9 days before he amended Carflex’s 2021 tax return.
6. On April 5, the CRA asked TD Bank to hold the funds, but the damage was already done. More than $1.8 million had already been withdrawn.

Not consistent with his income

The federal tax authorities find it surprising that Yvan Drapeau, who appears to be a modest mechanic from the Laurentians, suddenly buys a luxurious penthouse.

“The very recent acquisition of a building by Mr. Drapeau, without prior mortgage, for an amount of $2,035,000, is perplexing in view of the income declared by the latter in recent years”, maintains in his request Mr. Kloé Sévigny, representing the Attorney General of Canada.

For example, between 2015 and 2019, Flag never declared a net income of more than $31,000 per year, according to Revenue Canada.

The great luxury

The penthouse sold to a company now chaired by Jean-François Malo, and which the tax authorities are trying to recover, covers nearly 2,800 square feet. It has three bedrooms and two balconies.

The apartment, one of the largest in this luxurious complex called Sax on the river, is described by the promoter as “the exclusive address of Old Montreal, where everyone will want to settle in order to admire the tranquility of the river. and feel the effervescence of the city”.

This “refined interior design” building features “floor-to-ceiling” windows as well as “noble materials and superior soundproofing”. Residents also have access to a heated swimming pool.

Who is Yvan Drapeau

• Resident of Saint-Lin–Laurentides.
• Owner of a small body parts distribution business in Mirabel.
• He mysteriously gave a firm now chaired by Jean-François Malo the $2 million penthouse he had just bought, “for good and valid consideration already paid”.

Who is Jean-Francois Malo?

• Joliette real estate developer
• He was sued for nearly $6 million by Desjardins, who accused him of embezzling $3.5 million. The case was settled out of court in June 2020.
• Charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm, intimidation and obstruction of justice in June 2020 in connection with the attack on Me Nicholas Daudelin at his home in March 2020. Daudelin represented Desjardins in the dispute between the financial institution and Malo.
• Released in August 2020 pending trial. The Crown went to the Supreme Court hoping to keep him detained, to no avail.
• The other two defendants in this case, Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye and Daouda Dieng, were sentenced yesterday to 9 and 10 years respectively for discharging a firearm.
• In the context of Ndiaye and Dieng’s trial, the judge wrote that “at best, the evidence supports an inference to the effect that Mr. Malo had grievances against Mr. Daudelin”, and that “nothing allows us to understand that he was hoping for his death”.
• Malo will face a separate trial. Yesterday, a judge postponed until July 12 the decision on a request by Malo to have his attorneys’ fees paid by the state.