Fallen construction magnate ordered to pay $2 million after pleading guilty to fraud

MONTREAL – One-time Quebec construction magnate Tony Accurso and several companies tied to him have been ordered to pay $4.2 million after pleading guilty to tax fraud.

Quebec’s Revenue Department said the sentences were delivered today at a courthouse in Laval, Que.

Accurso pleaded guilty to making false tax declarations between 2006 and 2010 and was fined almost $2 million.

The four companies tied to him also pleaded guilty to making false tax declarations and together were fined roughly $2.2 million.

In 2018, Accurso received a four-year prison term after being convicted on fraud and corruption charges in what a Quebec court judge called one of the worst examples of municipal corruption in a Canadian court.

He was released from prison after serving one week, however, pending an appeal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2020.