Pierrefonds-Dollard Conservative candidate Agop Evereklian is in muddy waters after firing his campaign director Giulio Maturi Wednesday. The move came after it was reported by Canadian Press (CP) that Maturi had been linked to 2009 allegations against mayoral candidate Benoît Labonté. Maturi is allaged to have tried to convince Labonté to hire four political organizers paid by private companies, a practice which is illegal.
Bad cheques
It was also revealed by CP that Evereklian had been condemned by the Quebec Court for writing two bad cheques to a business partner in 2005 when he owned a Kia dealership. The court ruling of October 18, 2005 found him guilty of knowingly writing two bad cheques to Kia Gabriel for an amount of $29,632 as his own dealership was heading for bankruptcy.
In April 2004, Evereklian had bought a vehicle from Kia Gabriel in order to sell it to a client of his, an accepted practice in the business, and wrote a first cheque to cover the transaction. The cheque had bounced and Evereklian wrote a second cheque for the same amount. The latter was returned with the mention “account closed.” Quebec Court Judge Georges Massol ruled in 2005 that Evereklian had written both bad cheques knowingly and had thus abused his business partner. Evereklian did not return The Chronicle’s phone calls by publication time.