“Justice has been done, tabarn*k!”: Revenu Québec bites the dust against Jean-Noël “Sarto” Lacroix

Revenu Québec has just bitten the dust after trying to get its hands on the $6 million mansion of controversial businessman Jean-Noël “Sarto” Lacroix.

“Justice has been done, tabarnak, once and for all!” shouts “Sarto” Lacroix in a video that he posted in recent days on TikTok.

This is because the Superior Court recently canceled the pre-judgment seizure of the spectacular house he lives in on the shore of Lake Saint-Augustin, in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures in the suburbs of Quebec.

The tax authorities are claiming approximately $1.7 million in unpaid taxes from “Sarto”. Last May, the court allowed him to seize this residence, which officially belongs to Marie-Louise Monast, Lacroix’s wife. At that time, the house was on sale for $5,995,000.

The Revenu Québec (ARQ) agency alleged that M^me Monast, whose annual income varied between $4,217 and $53,159 between 2002 and 2020, was only a nominee and that the real owner of the luxurious residence was Lacroix.

Insufficient arguments

Judge Marie-Paule Gagnon of the Superior Court, however, considers that the arguments presented by Revenu Québec are insufficient for the house to be seized.

“The allegations of the ARQ representative […] do not allow us to conclude that the recovery of the ARQ debt is objectively in danger,” wrote the magistrate in her decision of January 14.

According to her, the ARQ was unable to “identify a specific gesture by Marie-Louise Monast demonstrating that she is trying to evade her assets” from the tax authorities.

The judge nevertheless recalls that Lacroix and his companies “have been the subject of numerous convictions in civil, penal and criminal matters” in the past.

Notably, in 2014, Lacroix was convicted of theft from federal and provincial revenue agencies, and he received a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community.

Tuesday, Claude-Olivier Fagnant, public relations officer for the ARQ, indicated that the organization would not make any comments in connection with the Superior Court’s judgment, since the case “is still before the courts.”

“Ostia of crossers”

On TikTok, “Sarto” describes Revenu Québec as a “host of tabarnak crossers”.

“I am capable of fighting. There are people who are not capable of fighting in life. I’m going to fight to the death,” he shouts, brandishing an angry fist at the camera.

Jean-Noël Lacroix is, however, far from out of the woods.

The Superior Court’s decision does not invalidate its significant debt to the ARQ. It will be up to the Court of Quebec to decide this case on the merits.

At the same time, Revenue Canada is also demanding more than $770,000 in unpaid excise tax.

“I hope the next ones are Revenue Canada. I’m waiting for you, my ostie, you others too,” warns Lacroix, who finally asks all those who don’t believe him to “go shit.”

Last September, the residence where Lacroix lives was targeted by gunfire. His business, Armoires PMM, was the scene of a suspicious fire. The same building had already been targeted by arson a year earlier. Quebec police have launched investigations into these events.