Tracked across the world, a casino magnate suspected of acting as a money launderer for the Sinaloa cartel in Quebec has taken legal action to force Ottawa to respond quickly to his request for Canadian citizenship.
The Press revealed Tuesday that Luftar Hysa, a businessman of Albanian origin established in Quebec since 2003, is the target of police investigations in three countries because he is suspected of using his casinos and his construction company to money launder money from the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world.
Documents from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) filed at the Montreal courthouse notably report the involvement of Luftar Hysa in a casino on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve, not very far from the metropolis.
PHOTO THE PRESS
RCMP suspect Luftar Hysa of using the Magic Palace casino in Kahnawake to launder drug money.
“Everything indicates that Luftar Ali HYSA infiltrated the Kahnawake Indian reservation to facilitate money laundering activities on behalf of the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, as well as for his own account,” says a police investigator in a denunciation under oath consulted by The Press. The police officer also mentions that Albania has officially requested Canada’s help to investigate Mr. Hysa and that Mexican authorities are also on his trail, according to Mexican media.
The document, presented to a justice of the peace, made it possible to force two banks to transmit to the police the information of the bank accounts associated with Mr. Hysa.
Citizenship application rejected in 2011
Mr. Hysa and his lawyers did not respond to questions from The Press. Last year, when Albanian and Mexican media reported on the suspicions against him, he denied any links to drug cartels.
After being placed in the spotlight in these two countries, the businessman took steps to solidify his position in Canada.
His wife and children already held Canadian citizenship, but he saw his citizenship application rejected in 2011 because he did not spend enough time on Canadian soil. Mr. Hysa had tried to plead his case by claiming that he often had to travel for business and that he was very attached to Canada, where he owns several businesses.
“My business required me to spend a lot of time in Mexico,” he said in a document filed in Federal Court.
I emigrated from a country torn apart by wars, political extremism and corruption. I want to be able to vote and contribute to a strong, united, prosperous and peaceful Canada.
Luftar Hysa, in a document filed with the Federal Court
A citizenship officer responsible for his case, however, noted that the businessman had not been perfectly transparent in his request. “He did not declare all his trips. He says there are too many,” the agent noted in a report filed in court.
Citizenship judge Marcel Tremblay (brother of former Montreal mayor Gérald Tremblay) was little moved by this argument and rejected the request. The Federal Court confirmed the validity of this refusal, since Mr. Hysa had been absent from the country for 1,287 days.
Last month, however, Mr. Hysa submitted a new application to the Federal Court, in which he revealed that he had made a new application for citizenship which had been pending since January 2018 and for which he had never received a response from the federal government. . He is asking a judge to force Immigration Department officials to make a decision in his case, given that the delays in responding to him are “unreasonable” and “far exceed department standards.”
The court has not yet decided the case.
Caution of the political class
Meanwhile, governments remain cautious about police suspicions about Luftar Hysa. The federal Minister of Public Safety, Dominic LeBlanc, did not want to comment on the revelations of The Press.
The office of Quebec Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, remained cautious. “Police forces work together and complement each other to fight organized crime. As an investigation could be underway, we will limit our comments so as not to harm the work of the police,” said the statement sent to The Press.
As for the Minister responsible for Relations with First Nations and Inuit, Ian Lafrenière, he considers it important not to interfere in the work of the police. “I don’t get involved in operations. Whether there is an investigation or not, I don’t even have to know,” he said.
With the collaboration of Daniel Renaud, The Press