Accountant ran money scheme at credit union, Quebec businessman says

Last Updated: Friday, January 28, 2011 | 7:13 PM ET

CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2011/01/27/construction-firm-accuses-accountant-of-money-laundering.html

A Quebec construction firm owner has alleged his accountant of cheating him out of $1 million, and says his local credit union was in connivance.

The alleged money-laundering scheme, according to a Radio-Canada report, involves construction entrepreneur Robert Thomas, a Caisse Populaire branch in Joliette and chartered accountant Jean Siminaro, who has been linked to the Hells Angels.

Thomas says his signature was forged on hundreds of cheques drawn on his business account, which was managed by Siminaro for several years.

The entrepreneur has launched legal action against the Caisse Populaire branch, and Quebec police are investigating the allegations, according to the CBC's French-language service.

In 2001, Thomas hired Siminaro, his neighbour, to do the accounting for his company Construction Robert Thomas, based Repentigny.

A nearby branch of the Caisse Populaire – Quebec's credit union network – loaned the company nearly $2 million to launch its building projects.

In 2007, Thomas received notice that he owed back taxes, and the Caisse notified him that it planned to seize his condominiums for failing to repay the loan.

Thomas later discovered that 622 cheques amounting to about $1 million were written against the company's account without his knowledge.

Thomas alleges his former accountant of forging his signature and using the chequing account to launder money. As well, the construction entrepreneur alleges, the Caisse branch tolerated the situation by allowing the cheques without notifying him.

"There were many cheques, but we can say we tolerated it, as we do sometimes for clients who sometimes have cash flow issues. We're there to provide solutions," bank manager Jean Dénommé said in an interview with Radio-Canada.

The bank branch maintains Thomas should have kept tabs on his account and reported any irregularities.

Siminaro was arrested in 2009 and charged with conspiracy and money laundering in connection with Hells Angels boss Normand Marvin "Casper" Ouimet.

Siminaro has been suspended from the Quebec order of accountants pending the legal proceedings against him.

Ouimet was arrested in Nov. 2010 on an outstanding arrest warrant in connection with multiple murders linked to Quebec's bloody biker wars. He is being held in detention in an undisclosed location.