Montreal man charged in Mexico
Wanted for not paying a debt, allegedly found with handguns in SUV
A Montreal man wanted on a warrant for not paying a debt he agreed to pay to avoid jail time in a fraud case has turned up in Mexico, where authorities have reportedly charged him with violating that country’s strict gun laws.
According to the Mexico and Gulf Region Reporter, a news website based in Mexico, Stewart Goldstein, 50, a former resident of Baie d’Urfé, was arrested by Mexican police on Tuesday in Playa del Carmen, a popular tourist destination.
The story is accompanied by a photo of Goldstein in handcuffs alongside a 25-year-old man described as a Canadian citizen. Heavily armed police officers wearing masks are seen in the photo standing next to Goldstein and the other Canadian.
Both men were arrested as they left Chilly Willy’s, a strip club, in sports utility vehicles that were searched without warrants. The police seized “several handguns and ammunition,” the website reported, adding that the two men face “serious federal firearms and explosives law offences.”
Goldstein is wanted in Montreal for failing to make payments on a debt he agreed to repay in order to avoid serving time behind bars after pleading guilty in 2009 to defrauding the Bank of Montreal of $600,000.
When he entered the plea, Goldstein admitted he agreed to take part in a fraud scheme set up by people tied to the Mafia in Montreal as a partial payment on his gambling debt. When he was arrested for the fraud in 2006, police seized several firearms from his home.
Goldstein, who described himself as a high-stakes gambler during a sentencing hearing in 2010, recounted how he ended up owing the Mafia $1.6 million after making bets on an Internet sports gambling network financed and controlled by members of the Rizzuto organization, including Francesco Del Balso, 42, and Lorenzo Giordano, 49. Both men are currently serving lengthy prison terms they received in 2008 as a result of Project Colisée, an extensive police investigation into the Mafia.
Conversations secretly recorded by the RCMP during Colisée revealed that Giordano in particular was upset with Goldstein because he was driving around in luxury cars while he owed them money. The problem was even brought to the attention of Nicolo (Zio Cola) Rizzuto, the now-deceased patriarch of the organization.
During the sentencing hearing in 2010, Goldstein told Quebec Court Judge Claude Parent that he was operating a business, out of a resort in Mexico, where he rented recreational vehicles to tourists. He argued that if he could keep the business operational, he would continue paying off the $600,000 he took from the Bank of Montreal.
The prosecutor in the case had asked for a 30-month prison term, but Parent agreed to delay a decision on the sentence if Goldstein could prove he was paying back the debt.
According to court records, the sentence was delayed twice until Goldstein failed to show up for a court date at the Montreal courthouse on May 13, 2011, and Parent issued a warrant for his arrest. In October of last year, a second warrant was issued declaring Goldstein as being in default of court-ordered payments.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs informed The Gazette by email that at least one of the Canadian citizens arrested is being provided with consular services and that “Canadian officials are in contact with local authorities to gather additional information.”