A former Wall Street wolf is the buyer of the most expensive condo in Quebec history

The most expensive condo in Quebec history was purchased by none other than Jacques Courtois Jr, a wealthy businessman turned philanthropist, also known for having been sentenced to prison in the United States for insider trading.

This is, among other things, what we learn from reading the notarized documents from the recent sale of the Montreal residence of the late Alvin Cramer Segal, the former president and CEO of Peerless Clothing, who died two years ago.

For the record, the 6,657 square foot penthouse occupies 14^e et 15^e floors of the luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel in Montreal. Its sale attracted attention three weeks ago after Le Journal revealed that the condo had been acquired for $18.75 million, the highest amount ever paid in the province for a condominium apartment.

If we were able to know the name of the seller at the time (Cramer Family Trust), that of the buyer had remained unknown until now. Gold, The Journal discovered that the new owner of the premises is none other than Jacques Courtois Jr, one of the sons of lawyer Jacques Courtois, long-time president of the Montreal Canadiens (1972 to 1979).

From Morgan Stanley to prison

In 1977, at the age of 29, Jacques Courtois Jr was appointed vice president responsible for mergers and acquisitions at the famous investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York. An extraordinary rise for this graduate of the prestigious Harvard Business School.

In February 1981, however, Mr. Courtois was charged with fraud and conspiracy in the United States for insider trading committed between 1975 and 1978. He had used confidential information to purchase, at low prices, shares of companies that were the subject of acquisition projects.

According to an article from New York Times at the time, these crimes allowed Jacques Courtois Jr and four accomplices to pocket profits of some US$600,000.

It was ultimately only years later, in December 1983, that Jacques Courtois surrendered to American authorities and pleaded guilty in New York. In the meantime, he had married in Colombia and escaped an extradition request, the United Press International news agency reported. A fugitive, he was traced to Montreal.

In February 1984, he was sentenced to serve six months in prison, repay US$150,000 and pay a US$10,000 fine, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

A career in Colombia

Mr. Courtois subsequently appeared to lead a discreet life, focusing mainly on the development of Quala, a Colombian company founded in 1980. Based in Bogota, Quala is today a giant of food products in Latin America.

In 2018, Quala sold its beauty and home care division to multinational Unilever. It is this transaction which would have allowed, according to The Pressto the Courtois Foundation to commit to making a record donation of $159M to the University of Montreal two years ago.

McGill University and UQAM have also benefited from his generosity in recent years. Jacques Jutras, rector of the University of Montreal, recently called him “the most important donor in the history of university philanthropy in Quebec.”

The third in Canada

Now in his seventies, Mr. Courtois also happens to be the brother of Marc Courtois, former president of Canada Post (2007 to 2014), and of former senator Nicole Marie Eaton (2009 to 2020).

His penthouse at the Ritz has around twenty rooms, including four bedrooms, four bathrooms and two powder rooms, an elevator and an outdoor terrace occupying 1,200 feet. The sale of this unit was finally concluded for $18.75M, or 16.6% less than the price posted ($22.5M) by the sellers.

Three weeks ago, this transaction ranked third among the most expensive condos sold in Canada. The two properties that exceeded this price were located in West Vancouver, British Columbia. The most expensive was sold for $25M, while the second went for $19.3M.

– With Sylvain Larocque and Philippe Langlois, Investigation Office