A prominent Quebec businessman, who had been evading authorities for months after being convicted of orchestrating a violent attack against a lawyer, has been apprehended in the Caribbean.
Arrest Ends Months on the Run
Jean-François Malo, 47, a real-estate developer from Joliette, was arrested on Tuesday in Martinique, according to multiple media reports. Malo was considered one of Quebec's most wanted fugitives after failing to appear for his court-ordered sentencing hearing.
The arrest was first reported by the Journal de Montréal. Éloïse Cossette, a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, stated that provincial police were in the process of validating the information. She confirmed that while Malo was a person of interest wanted in Canada, he was not subject to an international arrest warrant at the time of his capture.
"We will need to see over the next few days or weeks if the situation evolves and we could arrest (him) in our files — but right now, that’s not the case," Cossette said.
Conviction for Ordering Violent Attack
Malo's legal troubles stem from a 2020 incident where he ordered two men to shoot lawyer Nicholas Daudelin. Daudelin was representing Desjardins Financial Services in a civil litigation case against Malo involving allegations of fraud and extortion worth several million dollars.
The attack occurred at Daudelin's home in Mont-St-Hilaire, where he was shot in the leg. Daudelin later testified that he immediately suspected Malo, as a meeting in the contentious file had taken place just days prior.
Initially charged with attempted murder, Malo was found guilty of aggravated assault in May and later sentenced in absentia to a five-year prison term in October. The court heard evidence that Malo had supplied Daudelin's home address to the assailants.
Co-conspirators and Failed Sentencing
The two men who carried out the shooting, Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye and Daouda Dieng, were convicted of discharging a firearm with intent to wound and assault with a weapon. They received significant prison sentences of nine and ten years, respectively.
Malo's own sentencing process was derailed when he wrote to the presiding judge expressing fears for his life. He subsequently stopped attending his court dates at the Longueuil courthouse, triggering a warrant for his arrest and launching a months-long manhunt that spanned from Quebec to the French overseas territory of Martinique.
His arrest marks a significant development in a case that has highlighted extreme attempts to intimidate the justice system. Authorities will now work on the process to return him to Quebec to serve his sentence.
