The former mayor of Chambly, Denis Lavoie, was arrested on Tuesday by the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC).
Charges of obstruction of justice and breach of trust have been filed against him. After being met by investigators, he was released on a promise to appear at the Longueuil courthouse on May 10.
“Mr. Lavoie allegedly attempted to obstruct the course of justice at the Chambly Municipal Court,” UPAC spokesperson Mathieu Galarneau said Tuesday. The alleged facts allegedly occurred during Denis Lavoie’s last term as mayor of the municipality, from January 2016 to May 2019.
Recall that the ex-elected had resigned in the controversy of his post in April 2019, when his city had been placed under the supervision of the Municipal Commission of Quebec (CMQ).
At the head of the city since 2005, he had explained his decision for health reasons without mentioning the disturbances which then affected Chambly.
In a report broadcast a few months earlier, on the Radio-Canada program Enquête, citizens said they had been intimidated and threatened by Denis Lavoie.
The Commission municipale du Québec had opened an investigation at the time, and in February 2019, the UPAC had carried out searches in the offices of the city, without specifying, at the time, the nature of its intervention.
A few hours later, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, announced that the city was placed under guardianship “because there is no longer a bond of trust”.
