MONTREAL -- The FTQ tried to cover up the influence of organized crime in its FTQ Solidarity Fund, the Charbonneau Commission heard Monday.
The Solidarity Fund is known for financing projects when banks aren’t eager to invest.
One of the fund’s former directors was Guy Gionest, suspected of fast-tracking projects backed by mobsters and biker gang, who needed to invest in legitimate businesses to launder money.
The Charbonneau Commission heard Monday how Gionest’s dodgy dealings created an image problem, which the FTQ tried to correct in 2009 by, for example, purging suspected biker associate Denis Vincent's name from Solidarity Fund documents.
There were many more suspicious characters receiving generous funds, the commission heard.
When suspected mobster Giuseppe Bertolo began asking for money, Solidarity Fund manager Guy Theriault recalled an internal note where it was suggested the case manager get a remote starter for his car.
“Obviously it was a joke,” Theriault testified, in reference to Bertolo, who “wasn't your average businessman,” he said.
“He wasn't the type of man you wanted to hang out with,” added Theriault.
Commissioner France Charbonneau inquired, “So you knew full well you were dealing with a mobster?”
Theriault denied he was simply paying lip service to then-president Gionest, adding that he was eventually sidetracked when Gionest was forced to leave the Solidarity Fund in 2009.
The next witness to be heard at the commission is Louis-Pierre Lafortune, who is suspected to be tied to the Hells Angels.
Reluctant to appear at the commission, Lafortune has filed a motion to be heard behind closed doors.
So far, however, the commission has declined all such requests.
