The trial of businessman Robert Giroux, sued in civil court for $150 million by Quebec millionaires who accuse him of having cheated them in the wake of the collapse of the Huot Group, will finally resume in January.
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Judge Jocelyn Geoffroy rejected last Monday the request for adjournment from the Giroux clan who wanted to postpone the hearing to June 2025.
The defendants’ lawyer, Mr.e Sylvain Rigaud, asked for more time to become aware of “new facts”. He mentioned in particular that he would shortly have access to a hard drive containing the books, documents and registers of the Huot Group, its companies and its manager. This hard drive would contain 38,000 transactions, for a total of $2.3 billion, he pointed out.
The millionaires opposed this request, saying they were ready to proceed. Judge Geoffroy agreed with their arguments, finding that none of the reasons raised by the defendants represented “new and serious enough facts” to justify the request for adjournment.
“In this case, it appears clear that the defendants are attempting a fishing expedition. They hope to find something in the hard drive and/or in the bank statements and other documents that could perhaps help their cause,” the magistrate wrote in his judgment.
Long trial
Remember that the Giroux trial opened last May. After three weeks of trial, the defendants attempted to obtain the recusal of Judge Geoffroy on the grounds of bias.
This request forced the pause of the trial, which was to continue in the fall. The Superior Court and the Court of Appeal, however, rejected this request and the trial will continue under the authority of the current judge.
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