MONTREAL, June 17 (UPI) — Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum was arrested early Monday on 14 criminal charges, including fraud and municipal corruption, officials said.
Quebec’s anti-corruption police arrested Applebaum, Jean-Yves Bisson, former manager of Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace, a borough outside Montreal where Applebaum was once the mayor, and Saulie Zajdel, a former city councilor, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Charges against Applebaun included fraud toward the government, breach of trust, conspiracy and municipal corruption, the report said.
Charges against Bisson and Zajdel were not reported
Applebaum is among the latest Quebec officials investigated on allegations that public-works contracts were being inappropriately given by municipalities to well-connected firms, The Globe and Mail reported.
Gilles Vaillancourt, the former mayor of Laval, Quebec, was arrested and charged with fraud and gangsterism earlier this year and former Montreal interim Mayor Gerald Tremblay resigned last fall amid allegations that his party received illegal funding from construction firms.
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