A Sûreté du Québec (SQ) sergeant who managed travel agencies while supposedly disabled will finally head to prison. After a decade of legal proceedings, the Supreme Court rejected Nicolas Landry’s appeal, thereby confirming the six-month prison sentence for fraud.
The 48-year-old sergeant will therefore be automatically dismissed, as stipulated in the Police Act. “We took note of the decision. The Professional Standards department will follow up,” he told The Press Benoît Richard, spokesperson for the SQ.
The Supreme Court of Canada rendered judgment from the bench on Wednesday following the parties’ oral arguments. The reasons will be made public later. Five judges rejected the appeal, while Justice Suzanne Côté dissented. This would have replaced the verdict of fraud with a verdict of attempted fraud.
Nicolas Landry is starting his career off to a flying start. Since 2005, he has been an investigator in the Major Crimes Division at the SQ. But in 2009, he found himself on sick leave due to anxiety disorders. His health deteriorated for several years. Then, in 2014, a doctor declared him permanently disabled. This diagnosis allows him to receive his full salary until his retirement in 2026.
However, the SQ discovers that Nicolas Landry is not that ill in fact. He works full time for travel agencies with his wife. He is even considered the boss by some employees. However, the police officer has been on sick leave for years. Under surveillance, Nicolas Landry is particularly active on a daily basis. He even went abroad several times.
Essentially, Nicolas Landry defrauded the SQ by lying and failing to disclose information to the doctor regarding his tasks within the travel agencies.
At the end of his trial in 2018, the judge found him guilty of fraud. Then, in 2022, the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the decision. However, a judge dissented, opening the door to an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Special fact: Nicolas Landry was taking it easy in Mexico when the Court of Appeal forced him to surrender to the prison authorities in September 2022. It was therefore from Mexico that the fraudster signed a declaration to be released .
Nicolas Landry finally returned to the country and had to surrender his passport to regain his freedom in November 2022. That did not prevent him from asking the Court of Appeal to travel to Playa Del Carmen for three months. A request refused.