A man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, who would order crimes from the penitentiary where he is imprisoned, could be the author of the extortion attempts committed last fall against Tony Accurso.
This is, for the moment at least, the main hypothesis of the investigators of the Major Crimes of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) who are investigating the threats of which the businessman was the victim, entrusted sources to The Press.
The police also suspect the same individual, and accomplices who are believed to be at large, of being behind a wave of arson attacks that have been hitting Lebanese restaurants and cafes in Montreal and Laval since last year and whose motive would be extortion in exchange for protection.
Investigators would also link the same group of suspects to threats against at least one criminal lawyer in the Montreal area.
The same SQ Major Crimes investigators, in conjunction with their colleagues from the Lac des Deux-Montagnes Police Board, are also now investigating the misdeeds suffered by other members of the Accurso family last year, but they still consider these crimes and the extortion attempts against the businessman as two separate cases whose sponsor(s) and perpetrator(s) are not necessarily the same.
Calls from Donnacona
Last November, Deux-Montagnes police officers, who were paying particular attention to the area where members of the Accurso family live, arrested four young people in a car. In the vehicle, they discovered incendiary devices and they established that this time, it was the personal residence of Tony Accurso, and not that of one of his children, which was targeted.
Sources told The Press that during the preceding days or weeks, and thereafter, the businessman received several text messages and calls that appeared to come from a telephone number in the Donnacona area, from which the author allegedly demanded a sum of more than $100,000, stating that even the mafia and bikers could not prevent him from acting.
After receiving these threats, Mr. Accurso filed a complaint with the Régie de police du Lac des Deux-Montagnes, which then transferred the file to the Sûreté du Québec.
According to our information, SQ investigators went to a penitentiary to meet the number one suspect of these threats, but they were dismissed.
The investigation is continuing, but according to our information, extortion attempts against the businessman have ceased since the beginning of December.
Police believe the same group of individuals is behind arson — and sometimes gunfire — that has targeted at least a dozen Lebanese restaurants and bars in Montreal and Laval since last spring.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The police suspect that the Molotov cocktails thrown at the Nuits de Beyrouth restaurant last November in Laval were the work of the same group of individuals.
According to our information, the purpose of these misdeeds would be to put pressure on the owners of the establishments so that they accept protection of a few thousand dollars monthly or to force them to pay the suspects a rebate on the sale of chicha.
The sponsor or sponsors of these arson attacks have not yet been arrested.
As for the children of Tony Accurso, starting last July, their vehicles and residences were the targets of arson and even gunfire.
The most recent events occurred on the night of December 14 to 15, when two businesses linked to the spouse of Tony Accurso’s daughter, in Laval and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, were damaged by arson. .
The main theory put forward by the Lac des Deux-Montagnes Police Board last fall was a business dispute between members of the Accurso family, but the investigation is ongoing.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.