Paolo Catania, president of Construction Frank Catania & Associates Inc., says he is innocent of the criminal charges laid against him last week.
Catania, a prominent figure in Quebec's construction industry, was charged with uttering death threats, extortion and criminal harassment.
He called a press conference Monday afternoon to address the accusations, after reports surfaced in the media over the weekend.
According to a report that appeared in La Presse on Saturday, Catania tried to extort money from fellow businessman Elio Pagliarulo.
The newspaper reported that Catania and Pagliarulo were business partners who loaned money to people who had bad credit and couldn't obtain loans from banks.
Pagliarulo claimed a number of the people who owed him money failed to pay off their debts, and he was left owing Catania $1.4 million.
As a result, Pagliarulo alleges that Catania began uttering death threats back in December.
He also alleges that last month he was brutally attacked by a group of men who told him to pay Catania the money he owed.
Pagliarulo wants "revenge": Catania
Catania acknowledged that he lent money to Pagliarulo, but categorically denied threatening or harassing him.
He said Paligarulo simply wants revenge after failed business dealings.
"He wants to hurt me...he's tried to hurt my family and my business," Catania said.
Contracts with city hall
Catania is a partner with the city in the controversial Faubourg Contrecoeur housing project, which was investigated earlier this year by the city's Auditor General.
The project triggered an internal investigation because Catania's company bought the land from the city for millions of dollars less than what it was worth.
Since 2000, Catania's company has been awarded several multi-million dollar contracts with the city of Montreal.
On Saturday, Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay told CTV News the criminal charges have nothing do with his administration, and that Catania should be given a fair chance to defend himself against the accusations.
"They're accusations, he hasn't been condemned...it's not related to activities at the city of Montreal," Tremblay said.
Catania's next scheduled court date is Nov. 11.
