Construction magnate Tony Accurso says he is being extorted at halfway house

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Construction magnate Antonio (Tony) Accurso says he is being shaken down at a halfway house while he continues to serve the sentence he received in the Laval municipal corruption case.

At the start of a parole hearing Thursday morning, Accurso’s parole officer informed the board that she had new information to add before it could proceed.

Accurso, 72, was granted both day and full parole and was released on March 12. He was splitting his time between living at home and at a halfway house.

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“Mr. Accurso told me he was a victim of extortion by a resident (at the halfway house),” the parole officer, Marie Veilleux, said of a meeting she had with Accurso at his home in Deux Montagnes last week. “At the base of it, he said he didn’t share this before because he felt he could manage the situation on his own, but he also said it was tiring and that it wasn’t stopping.”

Accurso then confirmed what his parole officer said.

“All of the extortion attempts made against me, I tried to manage them myself and I never reported it to the administration at the halfway house,” Accurso said.

Accurso was allowed out on day parole on March 12.

“Twenty-eight days later there was an event,” Vielleux said in reference to shots being fired at a residence in Deux Montagnes owned by Accurso. “He contacted his parole officer to say there had been an event at his residence and that police were present. (Correctional Service Canada) learned there was an accomplice (in the Laval corruption case), his cousin (Giuseppe Molluso) who lived on the land of his property.

“The board was not aware that his cousin lived on the land.”

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On July 5, 2018, Accurso was sentenced to a four-year prison term for his role in a rigged bidding scheme that involved former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, other city officials and dozens of contractors seeking construction contracts from the municipality. He appealed the sentence and was ordered to begin serving it after all of his options for an appeal failed.

Veilleux said Accurso’s day parole was suspended because he violated one of the conditions of his release — that he not associate or contact with people involved in criminal activity.

“His cousin has a criminal record, so for us it is considered a breach of his condition,” Veilleux said, adding a decision was made to allow Accurso to return to being on day parole.

“Everything is going well. He respects his conditions, he is transparent with his case-management team, he provides us with all the information on his finances. For us, all of his conditions are respected.”

She added that Accurso even fired his gardener because it turned out he had a criminal record.

The parole board then agreed to hear Accurso’s release plan in a closed-door hearing to keep the details from becoming public. Two reporters covering the parole hearing were not allowed to follow that part of the hearing.

This report will be updated.

pcherry@postmedia.com

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