The president and co-founder of Sutton Quebec, the multimillionaire Christophe Folla, has just been arrested by the Sûreté du Québec for having ordered several arson attacks on some of his competitors in the Laurentians.
Aged 70, Folla must appear Thursday morning at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse.
Two of his alleged accomplices were also arrested by the authorities.
Montrealers Benjamin Amar and Alain-Marc Nahmias are said to have set fire to several Royal LePage Humania buildings in recent years in the Laurentians, under the orders of the president of Sutton Quebec, according to what the police investigation established.
Between 2017 and 2022, at least five arson attacks were set in Royal LePage branches in Sainte-Thérèse and Saint-Sauveur, both of which belonged to the late François Léger, who died in May 2022.
The last fire dates back to November 15, 2022. That day, the exterior of the building of the Royal LePage branch located on Curé-Labelle Boulevard, in Sainte-Thérèse, was set on fire, after an unsuccessful attempt the day before.
On the same day, the authorities arrested a suspect suspected of having had the mission of burning down the other branch that belonged to Mr. Léger, that of Saint-Sauveur. Fires were previously set there on Christmas Day 2018 and June 7, 2021.
It took several years of investigation for the police to catch the man suspected of having ordered these incendiary attacks.
On the Web, Christophe Folla identifies himself as an approved residential and commercial real estate broker for the Sutton-Clodem banner.
In the business registrar, he is still listed as the president of Sutton Quebec.
The Royal Lepage corporate communications team declined our interview requests, but responded by email to be “pleased to see that significant progress has been made in this matter, which has had a considerable impact on the team of Royal LePage Humania as well as throughout the Royal LePage Quebec network.