Canada,Former Hells Angels bigshot lands in court

OFF THE WIRE
Source: montrealgazette.com

Charges include 22 murder counts

Former Hells Angels heavyweight Marvin (Normand) Ouimet was finally arraigned yesterday, on 29 counts -including 22 charges of first-degree murder -in connection with Operation SharQc, a provincial police crackdown on the notorious biker gang.

His next court date is Dec. 10, when he is to appear with the 137 others arrested as part of the SharQc sweep.

Ouimet, 41, sporting a beard, appeared under tight security at the Montreal courthouse, where he was also was arraigned in connection with Operation Diligence, a Surete du Quebec investigation targeting the construction industry.

In that case, Ouimet, also known as "Casper," faces several charges, including money laundering and using the proceeds of crime. His bail hearing in that case is set for Feb. 18. The preliminary hearing is to start in October.

Ouimet, who had been the lam since April 2009, was arrested Monday afternoon when police located him in a taxi on St. Denis St. The man who last year was one of Quebec's 10 most wanted suspects offered no resistance during the arrest, SQ Sgt. Eloise Cossette said.

In April 2009, SharQc rounded up most of the 156 people named in an indictment that listed several serious charges, including conspiracy, participation in a criminal organization, and murder. The killings were carried out during a bloody conflict over drug trafficking turf between the Hells Angels and rival criminal organizations that stretched from 1994 to 2002, a period commonly referred to as Quebec's "biker war." Cossette explained that the suspects are co-accused in the same 22 homicides.

Next month's hearing will probably take place at the Gouin Blvd. detention facility, which has a tunnel from a holding area to a reinforced courthouse built in 2001 for Hells Angels cases. Operation SharQc is still seeking 19 suspects, Cossette said.

As for the Operation Diligence case, the SQ alleges Ouimet was at the forefront of a conspiracy to take control of Quebec's bricklaying industry to launder dirty money. He was at one time president of the Hells Angels in Trois Rivieres.

SQ Inspector Denis Morin said last year that Ouimet planned to create a consortium of masonry firms through "threats, intimidation and extortion."

Ouimet laundered money through masonry companies in part by paying bricklayers under the table, Morin said.

He then used the money to buy real estate and moved the profits from that into offshore investments, Morin added.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Hells+bigshot+lands+court/3768027/story.html#ixzz14GvjyoZW