Construction entrepreneur pleads guilty
Paid bribes to city inspector for ‘extra work’ charged but never carried out
A construction entrepreneur pleaded guilty this week to bribing a City of Montreal inspector and awaits a sentencing hearing on Friday.
Antonino Catania and the StLéonard based company he is associated with, Les Entreprises Catcan Inc., entered guilty pleas to three charges at the Montreal courthouse on Tuesday.
Catania, 72, of Repentigny, pleaded guilty to committing fraud toward the City of Montreal, paying bribes to François Thériault, a nowformer inspector with the City of Montreal, and breach of trust while Thériault was a public servant. The crimes Catania pleaded guilty to took place between 2006 and 2008. The case dates to 2013, but a new set of charges were prepared this week in anticipation of the guilty pleas.
The new charges were made public at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday. One count states that Catania gave Thériault “a reduction on the price of a piece of land and the payment of work on (Thériault’s) residence” in Laval while Thériault was an official with the City of Montreal. Another count Catania pleaded guilty to states that he helped Thériault commit a breach of trust.
When arrests were first made in 2013, the police alleged that Les Entreprises Catcan bribed Thériault so the company could file for payment for so-called “extras” on contracts it obtained for work on sewers. The extra work was never carried out. According to the business registry, Les Entreprises Catcan specializes in streets, sewers and sidewalks.
Two conspiracy charges that were originally filed against Catania in 2013 were not included on the new charge sheet drawn up this week for his guilty plea.
Thériault pleaded guilty to charges related to the same case on March 6, 2015.
He was sentenced to a 12-month prison term.
He also pleaded guilty to committing perjury by lying when he testified, under oath, before the Charbonneau Commission in 2011. He told the commission he accepted gifts, including bottles of wine and hockey tickets, from construction entrepreneurs.
But an investigation by the Sûreté du Québec revealed he received a discount on land and work on his home — worth a combined total of $30,000 — from Les Entreprises Catcan while it was being run by Catania.
Catania’s son Paolo, 39, of Montreal (not to be confused with the Paolo Catania charged in the Contrecoeur real estate development case), still faces four charges filed against him in the same case in 2013.
According to court records, his case is scheduled to begin in September.