Organized crime | Corruption exposed during murder investigation

A vast investigation aimed at finding a hitman on the run and arresting his accomplices allowed police to discover two potentially corrupt Quebec officials. A prison guard pleaded guilty to a charge of breach of trust and an SAAQ agent resigned after researching the license plate of a double agent.

This hitman is Frédérick Silva, who turned his jacket in the summer of 2022. His revelations are at the heart of a major investigation by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) which could allow the police to elucidate 65 murders and attempted murders committed over thirty years.

A longtime accomplice of Silva’s, Girard Anglade, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy for helping Silva escape police after a murder in downtown Montreal in 2017.

Read “Convicted of helping hitman flee justice”

This plea removed a publication ban that prevented us from revealing details of this affair, including two possible cases of corruption.

During Silva’s two-year run on the run, arrested in February 2019, an SPVM double agent posed as a criminal, gave a spy phone to the killer’s wife and asked that he call him back with the ‘device.

But shortly after, without knowing how she obtained it, an agent from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) did research on the license plate of the agent’s vehicle. double.

“Three days after the undercover scenario, this employee investigated the agent’s tag. She did not explain why she did it and she resigned,” said Detective Sergeant David Simard during the investigation into Anglade’s release.

“The SAAQ is well aware of the situation and carried out an investigation on this subject at the request of the SPVM in 2017-2018. No action was taken immediately at the request of the SPVM so as not to harm their investigation. On or about November 27, 2017, the employee resigned, presumably in connection with her actions. No other action was necessary on the part of the SAAQ considering that the employee of the agent no longer had access to our database,” responded to The Press Gino Desrosiers, SAAQ media relations coordinator.

Caught in the bag

In March 2021, a correctional officer from the Rivière-des-Prairies Institution where the accused Anglade was detained, Fania Jean-Charles, was arrested for bringing into the prison a bag containing cannabis, tobacco, blades and cell phones.

The police noticed money transfers between the agent’s bank account and those of Anglade’s relatives.

During his release investigation, the latter explained that the sums were intended for “gambling tables” that the detainees had set up. “If we don’t pay our debts, it could have consequences with fellow prisoners,” Anglade said.

M^me Jean-Charles pleaded guilty to conspiracy, breach of trust and distribution of cannabis. She is waiting to receive her sentence.

“The Department of Public Safety quickly took action against this employee when the charges against her were filed. In addition, complete collaboration was offered during the police investigation,” responded a spokesperson for the Ministry to questions from The Press.

“We have a duty of representation, but this is the type of behavior that we do not condone as peace officers. Such behavior can have serious consequences for our members,” reacted Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Union of Peace Officers in Correctional Services of Quebec.

A posthumous passport

During the Mégalo investigation, investigators often followed Anglade and saw him carry out counter-shadowing maneuvers in a vehicle, while he was traveling with Silva’s partner.

In August 2017, when the double agent posed as a criminal and handed the spy phone to Silva’s partner, it was Girard Anglade who called the man back.

Screaming, he told her that he no longer had any contact with Silva and would never give her the phone.

Subsequently, Anglade took some steps to allow Silva to leave the country with a false passport in the name of David Guérard.

After learning that Silva had a false passport, investigators called the Canada Border Services Agency, which quickly traced the fraudulent document in its data.

Silva told police that David Guérard was the name of an acquaintance, a tattoo artist who died in 2017.

But investigators still did not have the passport in hand.

Silva told them where to find him: behind a frame in the condo on Duke Street in Montreal, where he was hiding and in front of which he was arrested in February 2019.

The bloodhounds had searched the place, but did not find it. The passport was never used.

“Everyone is dead”

During the investigation into Anglade’s release, it was mentioned that 19 cell phones were found in his home after the attempted murder of biker Jean-Guy Bourgouin in January 2018, and that Anglade used at least seven different vehicles in 2016 and 2017.

During his testimony, Anglade presented himself as an “interior system installer”.

He said he had expired construction skills cards and that the last time he did this work was on the CHUM site, from 2014 to 2016.

“What is important for me is to get away from the past, from Montreal, from my associates. That’s my plan. Go as far as possible. I just want peace and quiet. Besides, my old acquaintances, everyone is dead or incarcerated,” Anglade said in November 2022, hoping to be released.

Friday morning, Anglade remained silent. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to 37 months by Judge André Vincent of the Superior Court. Subtracting the time spent in preventive detention, which totals 37 months, he was released the same day.

“I hope for you that this will be the last sentence and that it will end,” Judge Vincent told him, before wishing him good luck.

To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.