The third is the right one. After two trials that had not been conclusive, a former computer consultant finally pleaded guilty Monday morning to a charge of conspiracy to defraud the City of Montreal by embezzling millions of dollars fifteen years ago.
Cut short in his third trial, Benoit Bissonnette admitted to having reached an agreement with Gilles Parent, an official of the City, and to have voluntarily closed his eyes to the fact that this one aimed “inexorably” to defraud the City between December 2006 and September 2008. Mr. Parent has already been tried and sentenced to six years in prison for fraud in this case.
In a summary of the facts filed in court, the former consultant Bissonnette admits to having used a nominee to camouflage the fact that he and the civil servant Gilles Parent jointly owned a company called FORTÉ.
Hidden commissions and hijackings to Hong Kong
FORTÉ received $ 1 million in illegal commissions paid by private companies that provided computer services to the City of Montreal, according to the summary.
The company jointly owned by the two men also succeeded in appropriating 3.5 million dollars of public funds which it had transacted by Hong Kong, by fooling the City thanks to “pre-invoicing” for non-existent services and to the creation of false individuals, including a certain Chung Wok Wei, who was paid when he did not even exist, according to the document filed in court.
FORTÉ finally managed to pocket $ 750,000 thanks to a scheme that allowed it to make its employees work for the City and to charge professional fees, the summary said.
Long judicial saga
Representations on Benoit Bissonnette’s sentence will take place on December 3. It was the third trial held to try the former consultant since his arrest in 2009 by the Marteau Squad, since integrated into the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC). The investigation into fraud related to the computer services of the City of Montreal was called Project Epaulard.
In 2015, Benoit Bissonnette was acquitted by a jury after a first trial, but the Court of Appeal quashed this acquittal and ordered a new trial because the jury had not received the proper instructions before its deliberations.
In 2020, a second jury trial was aborted because a Crown prosecutor referred during the questioning of a witness to a document of incorporation of a company in Hong Kong, when it had been ruled inadmissible in evidence.
The pursuit was represented by Me Mathieu Longpré, of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP), while Benoit Bissonnette was represented by Mr.e Marc Labelle.