$27,000 stolen from Hydro-Québec: a Laval lawyer stole electricity for 14 years

A Laval lawyer pinned for his tampered with Hydro-Québec meter which saved him nearly $27,000 in electricity over 14 years will have to pay a fine of $13,000.

“The offense committed by the respondent is very serious. This is the theft of electricity,” ruled the Disciplinary Council of the Quebec Bar in a judgment rendered on October 7.

We learn that Antonio Martino, who practices civil law and whose offices are located on Henri-Bourassa Boulevard West in Montreal, was caught on January 26, 2021 by a chief metering installer from Hydro-Québec.

That day, the employee of the Crown corporation noticed that wires were diverting electricity from the meter at his Laval residence, causing some or all of the electricity to go unmetered. .

After asking Mr. Martino’s wife to have an electrician remove the diversion, otherwise there would be a power outage, Hydro-Québec carried out its threat the next morning.

From 2007 to 2021

Finding himself without electricity, Mr. Martino first contacted Hydro-Québec to complain about it before hiring an electrician to correct the wiring around the meter.

After reconnecting Mr. Martino, Hydro-Québec investigated his case until August 2022, in particular to measure the annual consumption of his residence for 12 months.

She concluded that the theft period extended from December 11, 2007 to January 27, 2021, and that $26,948.84 of electricity had been stolen. M^e Martino has since repaid the entire amount.

An engineer who analyzed the file concluded that work had been carried out “with the intention of partially circumventing Hydro-Québec’s metering by adding a secondary panel.”

“Willful blindness”

M^e Martino pleaded that it was a friend of his wife who had done the work in 2007 and that he had never inquired about the nature of it.

“He is willfully blind by not acting, by ignoring what is happening, and by depriving himself of information available at the time of carrying out the work,” ruled the Disciplinary Council.

M^e Martino will have to pay a fine of $10,000 to the Bar, in addition to costs of $3,000.

Hydro-Québec indicated to Journal that charges would not be brought against M^e Martino. “A settlement has been obtained in this matter. However, you should know that any case of electricity theft can lead to criminal charges,” declared spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty.

The lack of evidence could explain this decision, explains criminal law lawyer Jean-Marc Fradette.

“Reimbursement plays a big role, but so does the ability to provide proof. […] Were they able to establish that the lawyer had participated in the installation, encouraged or asked someone to do it, therefore by complicity? These are, I think, the elements that could have made the difference,” mentions M^e Fradette.