Quebec’s former top cop acquitted of charges

A Quebec Court has determined that three former highUDQNLQJ 6¼UHWª GX 4XªEHF officers did not commit crimes when they used money from a special fund intended to cover the cost of using informants for other reasons.

Judge Josée Bélanger acquitted Richard Deschênes, the former chief of the SQ, in her decision delivered on Monday at the Montreal courthouse.

She also acquitted former deputy director Steven Chabot and former chief inspector Alfred Tremblay, two officers who worked under Deschênes when he was Quebec’s top cop.

The long and complicated trial centred on how Chabot and Tremblay were paid the equivalent of a year’s worth of salaries through the special fund. Deschênes testified that he authorized the payments.

Bélanger called Deschênes’s testimony credible and trustworthy throughout her lengthy decision and acquitted all three men on the charges they faced: fraud, theft and breach of trust.

A small group of retired SQ officers who had followed the trial applauded after Bélanger left the courtroom. A few hugged Deschênes as he got up to leave the room. Chabot’s lawyer, Thomas Villeneuve, said he was “very happy” with the decision and noted his client “has had to live with this” since he was charged in 2012.

The Special Operations Fund was supposed to be used by the SQ to keep private any expenses incurred while investigators handled and dealt with informants. The fund was created to make sure criminals couldn’t locate informants through provincial police records that ordinarily could be made public. A whistle-blower kicked off the investigation when they questioned the legitimacy of requests Chabot and Tremblay made for money from the account because the amounts on the cheques somewhat matched their annual salaries. Chabot, a former deputy-director, and Tremblay, a former chiefinspector, were about to retire when they received the cheques.