User:Soulscanner/Sandbox/Applebaum/Investigation

Corruption investigation, arrest and trial
Questions about possible corruption emerged soon after Appplebaum's inauguration. Applebaums real estate dealings during his time as bureau mayor came under scrutiny. His role in a 2003 Union Montreal fundraiser held at a restaurant with underworld links came to light. On February 19, 2913, Quebec's anti-corruption police unit (UPAC) raided 9 locations, including Montreal city hall and Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough offices. Two more raids on borough offices would follow. Applebaum was arrested by Quebec's anti-corruption unit UPAC at his home on June 17, 2013. He initially faced 14 charges including fraud, conspiracy, breach of trust, and corruption in municipal affairs. The charges stemmed from acts which occurred during Applebaum's tenure as borough mayor and and related real estate projects between 2006 and 2011. Charges were also simultaneously laid against former city councillor Saulie Zajdel and Jean Yves Bisson, a city bureaucrat.

According to an arrest warrant, Applebaum engaged in two separate criminal conspiracies, the nature of which officials did not initially disclose. However, Radio-Canada reported that they involve the demolition of a residential building and the construction of condominiums, and link Applebaum to a Laval-based engineering firm central to the municipal corruption testimony being heard at the Charbonneau commission. In addition, Radio-Canada, citing police sources, said the police were investigating a $50,000 payment to Applebaum as well as a $15,000 payment made to Zajdel. On June 18, 2013 Applebaum announced his resignation of Mayor of Montreal, maintaining that the allegations against him were unfounded. He hired Marcel Danis, a criminal lawyer and former federal Member of Parliament, as his defence attorney.

In October 2013, charges against him were widened to encompass ten major real estate transactions between 2002 and 2012 in Côte-des-Neiges. His preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 2015, immediately before Zajdel's trial.

On January 26, 2017, Applebaum was found guilty of eight corruption-related charges.

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