The drama in Place D’Youville brought Émile Benamor, the controversial owner of the burned-out building, to the general public. Alternately shareholder of a flea market, hyperactive lawyer in the Youth Court and representative of organized crime heavyweights, the man has crushed many toes over the course of his career. His retirement fund: a real estate empire that includes a hostel, shops, luxury residences, many buildings whose accommodations are offered on Airbnb and a building where money literally falls from the sky.
In June 2020, following an emergency response, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) recovered a bag containing almost $200,000 in cash, hidden in the service room of a small building in Côte-des-Neiges acquired by the lawyer three years earlier. The small storage room was inaccessible to the tenants.
“This amount has never been linked to anyone,” explained Me Alexandre Bergevin, Émile Benamor’s lawyer, who claims that his client was absolutely unaware of the existence of this amount. hidden treasure. However, since it was found in his apartment building, “that amount should be returned to him.” “It’s not Mr. Benamor’s money, but that money was found in one of his buildings,” he continued.
It was not the first time in Me Benamor’s career that the source of large sums of money raised questions. In 2021, the Court of Quebec sentenced him to a fine of $136,000 for tax evasion, after a guilty plea. He failed to report nearly $470,000 received in a personal bank account from a mysterious “fraudulent scheme”. “The evidence from the Canada Revenue Agency does not show that when cashing the drafts, Mr. Benamor was aware that the origin of the funds came from such a scheme,” the federal agency said. His lawyer points out that this is the only problem the tax authorities have found despite a three-year investigation into his accounts.
Since this conviction, his right to practice has been limited: he can no longer practice tax law. And it can no longer accommodate interns from the Barreau du Québec, the organization confirmed by email on Thursday.
“Me, I start my day at 6:30 a.m. in my buildings, because I have about fifteen to check,” said Émile Benamor last December, before the municipal court of Montreal, adding that he had largely abandoned the practice of law. . Montreal firefighters blamed him for the poor condition of an emergency staircase. He was acquitted.
Today, the 60-year-old is at the head of a small real estate empire made up of about twenty properties, concentrated in Old Montreal and the West Island. Together, they are valued at $27 million by the City. “Like so many others, he bought buildings. He’s self-employed, so he doesn’t have a pension fund,” continued Me Alexandre Bergevin, Émile Benamor’s lawyer. “He thought about building a retirement fund, that makes sense. »
The most expensive property: a mansion in Dorval, directly on the edge of the St. Lawrence, which is close to 4 million according to the municipal evaluation. At the turn of the 2010s, Me Benamor was known among Montreal criminal lawyers for the big parties he organized there (Emile’s Mansion Parties), sometimes sponsored by a brand of energy drinks. “Security at the entrance. No drugs,” the lawyer warned on an invite, retrieved from a virtual archive site.
The overflowing photos of sun, sculpted bodies and cigars immediately made the rounds of the courthouse. The divisive personality of Me Benamor also made people talk, recognizes Me Bergevin.
“It is true that Émile has a somewhat Mediterranean temperament. It is true that he is a bit hot-blooded. But you’re going to find as many people who love him as people who hate him, ”assured his lawyer. He added that his client is involved in philanthropy, that he “helps organizations on a daily basis, I could provide you with a list”. “He’s the kind of person who’s going to show up for you, if you’re his friend and you’re in trouble.” It is increasingly rare in the world we live in. »
This personality, however, seems to have gotten him in trouble. A former tenant, who lived in one of the buildings before the pandemic and who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, says Mr. Benamor made regular rounds of his apartments, often early in the morning. He occasionally knocked on doors insistently so he could enter and inspect the premises.
In October 2019, a couple who rented one of their Viger Street apartments filed a harassment complaint against Mr. Benamor with the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL), seeking $2,000 in punitive damages. The couple complained of being the target of “constant threats” of being evicted, having the locks changed, the water and electricity cut off and the number of visitors being restricted by the landlord.
“We are being threatened, intimidated, harassed and we disagree,” the two plaintiffs said in the application form filed with the TAL. The couple, who did not respond to our interview requests, however withdrew the appeal in March 2020.
Buster Freum, a former tenant who lived in the burnt-out building on Place D’Youville in 2015 and again in 2020, says he had a dispute with his landlord over the state of what he calls a “building absolutely awful.”
“Émile has always been abusive and stingy,” Freum said. He had complained to the Régie du bâtiment, which however considered that it was not authorized to study the request.
In addition to the Dorval mansion, Émile Benamor’s real estate portfolio also includes two condos at 1000 rue de la Commune, a luxury building in Old Montreal with a view of the water. The lawyer has his habits in the surrounding restaurants, in particular at the chic Muscadin, rue Saint-Vincent, where he has his napkin ring.
Most of his other properties are otherwise less prestigious. Last month, the City of Westmount took the lawyer to court for running an illegal rooming house on Saint-Antoine Street West, in sanitary conditions “likely to put the health and safety of the occupants at risk. “. A “strong smell of excrement” wafted through the building as the municipal inspector passed by, who noted a persistent sewer backup. The procedures are still ongoing.
In the damaged building on Place D’Youville, the authorities are trying to determine whether Me Benamor has put the lives of his tenants or sub-tenants in danger. Survivors of the tragedy said they never heard a fire alarm and revealed the existence of at least one bedroom without a window.
They will also try to shed light on his links with the tenants who offered some of the accommodation in the Place D’Youville building on Airbnb. Me Benamor assures – through his lawyer – that he was trying to bring them to heel.
However, this case is far from unique. Between 2018 and 2020, Mr. Benamor rented more than a dozen of his heritage apartments in Old Montreal to the same two tenants, according to leases consulted by La Presse. These two people, who did not want to give us an interview, then sublet the apartments on Airbnb, according to our information.
His lawyer, Me Bergevin, points out that signing many leases with the same person does not automatically mean that the apartments will end up on Airbnb. Subletting is perfectly legal, he argued.
Another of Mr. Benamor’s buildings, located on Notre-Dame Street in Old Montreal, has been operated for a few months by a youth hostel. During a visit this week, La Presse was able to observe that at least one room offered for rent had no window overlooking the outside.
On Booking.com, two visitors who rented the room complained about it in comments left on the site. “I consider it a fire hazard. It would be impossible to be rescued from the outside if a fire broke out inside the building,” complained one of the travelers, with two supporting photos. Mr. Bergevin argues that these comments concern the operator of the inn and not the owner of the building: “The City gave the permit! Everything is OK! »
Until a few years ago, it was as a lawyer rather than a real estate owner that Émile Benamor was best known. After studying at the University of Sherbrooke, he was admitted to the Bar in 1987.
The lawyer began his career in the corridors of the large courthouse on Notre-Dame Street, but quickly moved north, to the Youth Court, corner Bellechasse and Saint-Denis. For years, he was one of the lawyers who had a “private hunting ground”, recognizes Alexandre Bergevin.
Me Benamor and his staff ruled the halls of the building, carrying a very high caseload. According to our information, a judge even filed a complaint with the Bar against the lawyer because he felt that the huge amount of cases he was handling could not allow him to offer an adequate defense to his clients.
“He arrived in the morning and he had the files before the others,” said retired lawyer Jean-Jacques Gagnon, responsible for investigating the lawyer for the syndic of the Barreau du Québec. “He was busy, it didn’t make sense. I even remember he was getting yelled at because he was in room 1, he also had files in rooms 2 and 3.”
“He was taking, taking, taking, files, and he was convincing his clients to plead guilty. Either [he made] agreements, which were not correct for the clients, ”continued Mr. Gagnon, who added that the distribution system for certain files had been modified as a result of his work. Me Benamor has never faced disciplinary proceedings.
In 2006 and then in 2013, the Court of Appeal however agreed to invalidate the pleas of guilt of young clients of Me Benamor. In the most recent case, the justice acknowledged the existence of “undue pressure” on the minors who complained of having been forced by Me Benamor to plead guilty. You had to “answer yes to all the questions in order to avoid the judge getting angry”, said one of the young people.
“It’s pretty isolated in a 40-year journey. It can happen to any lawyer, especially in a high-volume practice,” Benamor’s attorney argued. Volume practice was a business decision, he added: “Mr. Benamor did not invent the model. It is a model that existed and still exists. »
At the same time, Me Benamor carried out other activities, related to law or not. He was a shareholder of the Metropolitan Flea Market. He incorporated a lending business with a partner. In 2011, he made private loans of $300,000 and $200,000 to investment firms, according to a court document he filed in response to a lawsuit.
Some of his clients, many of whom wanted to run a legal business alongside their criminal activities, began to “take up residence” at his office to have their business correspondence routed there: a trafficker’s towing firm of Turkish heroin, the trucking business of an Italian mobster, the car wash of a criminal linked to the Wolf Pack gang in Quebec, the tailor of a Lebanese organized crime leader.
It was a simple formality to ensure that the renewal forms from the Registraire des entreprises landed on the right desk, argued Me Alexandre Bergevin. “It’s all changed so much. Now it would be hard to find lawyers who do that, but back then it was common practice. Even large offices did that, he pleaded. That doesn’t say much, frankly. »
Meanwhile, Émile Benamor was building his real estate empire, buying a lot and investing as little as possible. He is “old school, that means you try to minimize the expenses related to the maintenance of your building”, described Me Alexandre Bergevin. Will his career as a property manager be the downfall of attorney Benamor?
