The slim hope of quickly obtaining financial compensation to which hundreds of inventors cheated by the fraudster Christian Varin cling has just gone up in smoke. A suspicious fire on Tuesday damaged a luxurious building in Shefford which the courts had confiscated from the charlatan, and whose imminent sale was to partially compensate its victims, we learned The Press.
The story so far
- Christian Varin and his bogus organization, the Fédération des inventors du Québec, have scammed nearly 500 inventors since 2014 by making them believe that he would obtain a patent for their invention.
- The impostor, who had “neither the skills nor the ability” to do so, was found guilty of fraud in January 2022. He is serving a five-year prison sentence.
- The stolen money was used to build the “Inventors’ Pavilion”, a luxury building in Shefford, which was seized to compensate the victims as part of a class action.
- The building was the target of a suspicious fire this week, while a promise to purchase was concluded.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) confirms that fire scene technicians were dispatched on Wednesday for a “suspicious” fire having damaged this building confiscated since January 2022 by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP). Tracking dogs were present on site Thursday. Significant damage was noted to the roof and rear facade of the building, the windows of which were plastered with posters indicating that it was seized. “Elements found on site suggest that the fire was caused by a criminal hand,” confirms agent Louis-Philippe Couture, spokesperson for the SQ.
“Our investigators will look into all the circumstances that could have pushed a person to set a fire,” he adds.
“The fire spread from the outside to the inside,” explains the director of the Shefford Fire Safety Department, Luc Couture.
Since 2014, Christian Varin and his bogus organization, the Fédération des inventors du Québec, have stolen nearly 3 million dollars from Quebec inventors, who the man made believe that he would obtain a patent for them to market their creations. The 66-year-old man, described as a compulsive liar by judge Alexandre Dalmau, has never completed a single procedure. He was sentenced to five years in prison in September 2022, and has since been serving a sentence in a Laval establishment.
Between 1.3 and 1.4 million dollars of the sums he defrauded from his victims were diverted for the construction of the “Inventors’ Pavilion”, a luxurious 19-room building, with an indoor swimming pool and conference room, which Varin had it built in Shefford, on land belonging to his partner.
Considering that it was the fruit of crime, the DPCP seized the building last January and reached an agreement with a group of lawyers representing several victims within the framework of a collective action, as well as with the lawyer of Varin, so that the proceeds of the sale are returned to them.
Listed for sale at a price of 1.9 million, the building was recently acquired by a buyer from the Sherbrooke region, for an unspecified sum. According to our information, the sale was to be formalized before the notary in the coming days. The victims’ compensation protocol – which provided for the return of approximately $900,000 to the defrauded inventors and the payment of $100,000 in fees to Christian Varin’s lawyer, Me Normand Haché – was to be presented this week in court.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christian Varin, in 2020
But due to the fire of a suspicious nature, the sale was suddenly canceled, we learned The Press. The DPCP refused to comment on our information, since the matter is the subject of a police investigation.
Insurance questions
The blocking order pronounced by the court at the request of the DPCP, last January, forced Varin and his partner, Sylvain Riendeau, to “maintain the building adequately insured” while awaiting the sale. But according to a person familiar with the matter, this clause was not included in the confiscation order which succeeded the blocking order, and the DPCP would not have insured the building. The DPCP did not respond to our specific questions regarding this issue.
The damage caused by the flames could represent several tens of thousands of dollars, and seriously complicates the resale.
“I dare to hope that the DPCP has insured the building,” says lawyer Vincent Langlois, who represents a dozen cheated inventors.
Patrick Marcotte, inventor of a smart remote starter who is among Varin’s many victims, expected to receive between $10,000 and $12,000 in compensation when the sale was finalized. ” It’s disgusting ! Completely discouraging. “Since this has been going on for so many years, we’re really starting to lose hope,” he says on the line.
The fire caused shock waves among the many lawyers involved in this judicial saga since 2017. “It worries me and it’s annoying. The customer [Christian Varin] is still in prison,” comments Me Normand Haché, Varin’s lawyer, to whom the fraudster owed $174,000 in fees for the 38 cases in which he represented him. Under an agreement with the DPCP, his fees were reduced to $100,000. “This fire will not bring more money to the victims. This is an unfortunate twist. I am disappointed,” adds the lawyer.
“There have been so many twists and turns in this story, we would have hoped for a more serene ending than this one, which will inevitably reduce the value of the only asset seizable for [dédommager] the victims,” deplores lawyer Vincent Langlois.