Cops raid Laval mayor’s home
LAVAL, QUE. Quebec’s new anti- corruption squad launched its highest-profile raid against a politician, sifting through the personal residence and the offices of the mayor of a major Montreal-area municipality Thursday.
The searches targeted Gilles Vaillancourt, the powerful mayor who has enjoyed a 23-year reign at the helm of Laval, Que. , the third-biggest municipality in the province.
About 70 officers from the provincial police anti-corruption unit participated in the operation; Vaillancourt was not home when the officers arrived, his press secretary said.
Laval city hall was evacuated when the raids began, at about 4 p. m. A spokeswoman for the anti-corruption unit wouldn’t say what was being seized, but she confirmed material was gathered as part of an ongoing investigation.
Vaillancourt is not accused of any crime.
The mayor has, in the past, expressed outrage on occasions when accusers tied him to allegations of crooked cash dealings.
A news report last month on illegal campaign financing said a one-time fundraiser for the provincial Parti Quebecois claimed to have received $10,000 in cash from Vaillancourt during a 1994 election.
The anti- corruption unit was created by the former Jean Charest government amid scandals in recent years, mainly in the province’s construction industry.