Quebec businessman who ordered hit on lawyer arrested in Martinique

A Joliette real-estate developer who ordered a hit against a lawyer and has been on the lam for months was arrested Tuesday in Martinique, according to several media reports.

Jean-François Malo, 47, is considered one of Quebec’s most wanted fugitives.

He was sentenced to a five-year prison term in October for ordering two men to shoot a lawyer he faced in civil litigation in 2020.

During sentencing proceedings, however, Malo wrote to the presiding judge to say he feared for his life. He stopped making his court dates at the Longueuil courthouse and had been wanted ever since.

The Journal de Montréal first reported his arrest on Tuesday.

Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Éloïse Cossette said the provincial police force was still in the process of confirming details.

“We’re hearing information that we will validate,” Cossette said, while noting Malo was not subject to an international arrest warrant.

“From our end, he is still a person of interest who is wanted in Canada,” she added. “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.”

Malo was sentenced for his role in ordering an attack against lawyer Nicholas Daudelin, who was shot in the leg when two men opened fire on his Mont-St-Hilaire home in 2020.

At the time, Daudelin was mandated by Desjardins Financial Services to take legal action against Malo. The civil proceedings involved several million dollars and Malo was alleged to have committed fraud and extortion.

Daudelin later testified that he immediately assumed Malo was the person who ordered the shooting. A meeting had been held in the file only days earlier.

Malo was initially charged with attempted murder but was found guilty of aggravated assault in May. The courts heard that he had supplied Daudelin’s address to the assailants.

The two men involved in the attack — Cheikh Ahmed Tidiane Ndiaye and Daouda Dieng — were found guilty of discharging a firearm with the intent to wound a person and assault with a weapon.

They were sentenced to prison terms of nine years for Ndiaye and 10 years for Dieng.

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