Quebec wants to break the sale of $ 220 million

Quebec wants to buy back for $220 million two buildings it sold in 2008, which led to a fraud investigation by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit and a devastating report from the Auditor General.

“It’s a gang of bad guys in there!” It’s not prestigious! “, launched in 2016 the former President of the Treasury Board Monique Jérôme-Forget about the directors of the Société immobilière du Québec (SIQ), who had endorsed the sale of 500 Grande Allée Est in Québec and 500 René -Levesque West in Montreal.

The police, judicial and political saga has been going on for more than a decade, during which François Legault was put on notice and Minister Éric Caire sued for $ 1.25 million.

Our Bureau of Investigation has learned that Quebec is seeking to return to square one. The Société québécoise des Infrastructures (SQI), which replaced the SIQ, filed a lawsuit last week seeking punitive damages and asking the Superior Court to cancel the sales made to George Gantcheff’s firm Gestion Cromwell a year ago. almost 15 years.

The SQI has also filed a notice to assert its rights over these two office buildings, until the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

The pursuit is currently shrouded in secrecy. The identities of the 11 defendants are concealed. Last Friday, at the Quebec courthouse, we were told that it was impossible to consult the file, citing confidentiality.

Investigations and report

The two Gantcheff buildings are part of the three buildings sold in 2008 by the Charest government, with the aim of obtaining sums to be paid into the Generations Fund, created two years earlier with the objective of reducing Quebec’s debt.

The government then signed long-term leases to continue to occupy offices there.

The third building, Place Québec, had been sold to contractor Tony Accurso and the Fonds FTQ.

From 2010, the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) opened the Justesse criminal investigation into allegations of fraud for the benefit of organizers of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), in the context of the sale of these buildings.

In 2016, a Radio-Canada report revealed the existence of this police investigation. We learned that UPAC suspected that Marc-André Fortier, ex-CEO of the Société immobilière du Québec, as well as Liberal fundraisers William Bartlett, Franco Fava and Charles Rondeau would have received secret commissions of several million dollars.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and its leader François Legault, then in opposition, had taken center stage in this affair and attacked the PLQ.

Nearly $19 million lost

In November 2017, the Auditor General concluded that Quebec had lost nearly $19 million in the transactions of the three buildings. She felt that several rules of sound management had been flouted by the SIQ.

But the auditor did not conclude that George Gantcheff and his firm had benefited from undue advantages.

The real estate mogul claimed instead to have bought “poorly maintained” buildings which ultimately cost him tens of millions of dollars in repairs.

“I have always run my businesses with honesty. I will not accept that my reputation be smeared and my integrity questioned, ”he said, the day after the publication of the auditor’s report.

Everything collapses

Then, in November 2019, UPAC announced that it was ending the Accuracy investigation, saying that the conditions were “not met to go further”. Our Bureau of Investigation then revealed that UPAC feared that the way in which certain pieces of evidence were obtained would be challenged in court.

However, Franco Fava is said to have even told alleged accomplices that he expected to be arrested.

“At worst, I will be accused. It’s criminal, handcuffs in the back with a esti of show media. At worst, I will pay tax, ”he allegedly said in a restaurant in Quebec, according to UPAC documents consulted at the time by our Bureau of Investigation.

The saga did not end there. In March 2022, George Gantcheff retaliated by filing a lawsuit for $ 1.25 million against the CAQ minister Éric Caire. He accused the MP of making comments that “unfairly and falsely imply” that he lacked integrity.

– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois and Kathryne Lamontagne

They invited themselves into this saga

Monique Jerome-Forget

The former president of the Conseil du trésor, to whom the SIQ reported, had very harsh words for the administrators of the SIQ, in an interview with Radio-Canada.

“It’s a gang of bad guys in there!” It’s not prestigious! », she had launched. These statements have gone viral on the web.

Francois Legault

In 2016, he declared that George Gantcheff was “one of the beneficiaries of the scheme” of the liberals. The latter had put him on notice and accused him of defaming him.

Eric Cairo

Sued for $1.25 million by George Gantcheff since last March for damage to his reputation.

George Gantcheff

Big boss and first shareholder of the real estate firm Gestion Cromwell. He has not been charged.

Guylaine Leclerc

In 2017, the Auditor General published a devastating report on property management at the SIQ.

Frederick Gaudreau

The Anti-Corruption Commissioner announced in 2019 the end of the Justesse criminal investigation into the SIQ transactions.

Franco Fava

Former leader of a construction company, he is one of the liberal organizers who would have benefited from the sale of the SIQ buildings, according to the thesis of the UPAC investigation which was abandoned in 2019. He did not face any charges.

Marc-Andre Fortier

Ex-CEO of the SIQ at the time of the controversial transactions, fired in 2008 by Minister Jérôme-Forget.