A real estate developer from Quebec with outstanding warrants across Canada was apprehended in Martinique, a French Caribbean island, on Tuesday. Jean-François Malo, a resident of Joliette, Quebec, was convicted for orchestrating an armed attack on a lawyer in 2020. The arrest in Martinique was confirmed by Radio-Canada following an initial report by Le Journal de Montréal.
Sources from Radio-Canada indicated that Malo was detained in connection with an offense allegedly committed in Martinique, distinct from the two warrants issued against him. Tian Meng, a prosecutor with the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP), verified the existence of the two Canadian warrants against Malo. One warrant is for a five-year prison term, while the other is for breaching release conditions.
Sgt. Éloïse Cossette, a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec, refrained from verifying Malo’s arrest. She mentioned that if a person sought by Canadian authorities is found abroad, extradition procedures may be initiated, which are confidential in nature.
Malo had been evading authorities since mid-October when an arrest warrant was issued after he failed to appear in court for his sentencing hearing. In a separate incident in May, Malo was convicted of aggravated assault. The court learned that during a legal dispute with Desjardins, Malo contracted two individuals to carry out a shooting at the residence of Nicholas Daudelin, a lawyer representing the financial institution. Daudelin sustained a gunshot wound to the leg.
Although Malo was found guilty of assault related to the 2020 attack, the charge of attempted murder could not be substantiated by the Crown.