Boulanger-Dorval, 42, faces five counts of fraud, identity theft and information trafficking committed between October 2016 and May 2019 in Lévis. He must appear at the end of the afternoon at the Quebec courthouse, at the request of investigators.
Jean-Loup Masse-Leullier, François Baillargeon-Bouchard and Laurence Bernier were also arrested, they face four counts of fraud.
Mathieu Joncas and Charles Bernier are targeted by the same accusations, but have not yet been located. They would potentially be outside, according to Benoit Richard, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec.
The six individuals are accused of committing mischief with regard to computer data, knowingly obtaining personal information with the intent to commit a criminal act and making confidential data accessible.
They are mainly accused of having, through deception, lies or other fraudulent means, frustrated the Fédération des Caisses Desjardins, the Desjardins Movement, their affiliated entities and their customers with a value exceeding $5,000.
Boulanger-Dorval is also accused of having fraudulently obtained computer services in Lévis, between October 2016 and May 209. He will be questioned all day by the Sûreté du Québec.
Two people on the run
The provincial police force is looking for Maxime Paquet, 38, and Juan Tablo Serrano, 38.
“The latter two are currently on the run abroad and are among the most wanted criminals in Quebec,” said the SQ at a press briefing Thursday.
A Canada-wide arrest warrant has been signed against the two suspects.
Update on the Portier project
The provincial police provided an update on the Portier project, a large investigation that has been going on since 2019. These arrests come a few hours after those of the Laval Police Department, which closed the Glaive file.
Sébastien Boulanger-Dorval allegedly sold confidential information concerning millions of clients to Jean-Loup Leullier-Masse, a private lender from Montmagny, according to court documents already filed in recent years.
Leullier-Masse then allegedly sold the client lists to other men in the industry.
Even though they were in the sights of the police from the beginning, no criminal charges had been filed against them until now.
Benoit Richard, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil)
Ex-employee
Boulanger-Dorval is a former employee of the financial services cooperative. He allegedly illegitimately appropriated confidential data as early as November 2016.
Two years later, Desjardins filed a complaint with the Laval police and in May 2019, she searched the offices of Sébastien Boulanger-Dorval for the first time.
In June 2019, the first searches were orchestrated in Montmagny, in Chaudière-Appalaches, by the Sûreté du Québec. The office of Jean-Loup Leullier-Masse is also targeted.
At the same time, the financial services cooperative announced the news to its customers. The data theft was initially expected to affect nearly three million customers. This figure has continued to increase over the months. The total number of victims is ultimately estimated at more than nine million.
At the beginning of 2021, the SQ carried out a search lasting several days in the offices of Desjardins, where Boulanger-Dorval worked.
In June 2022, the Superior Court ratified a $200 million agreement between Desjardins and the victims of data theft, all customers and former customers benefiting from a reparative amount depending on the harm caused.
Other suspects
Private lender and mortgage broker Mathieu Joncas, 38, his associate François Baillargeon-Bouchard, 35, and mortgage broker Marc-Olivier Tanguay allegedly purchased the stolen client lists. Tanguay is not facing criminal charges at this time.
Mathieu Joncas faces four counts of fraud. (La Presse Archives)
In 2021, Mathieu Joncas was found guilty by the Disciplinary Committee of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtage régional du Québec (OACIQ).
The latter purchased lists containing the sensitive data of at least 150,000 people “without ensuring that they obtained their consent,” the decision indicates. He also failed to reveal certain facts during his interrogation.
Mathieu Joncas was ordered to pay fines of $36,000, along with the suspension of his license for a period of 420 days. For his part, Marc-Olivier Tanguay paid a fine of $5,000 and received fines totaling $40,000, notably from the disciplinary committee of the Chamber of Financial Security.
