Rizzuto associate 'an important witness'

 

The head of a construction company who was once a close associate of the Rizzuto organization was being interviewed by Laval police investigators Friday night to explain what provoked a shooting in broad daylight on a busy Laval thoroughfare. Raynald Desjardins, 57, used to be a close associate of Vito Rizzuto, a leader in the mafia in Montreal. Desjardins was not arrested but as of 9:30 p.m., investigators were still questioning Desjardins and another man picked up near the scene of the shooting, which took place at 9:30 a.m. on Lévesque Blvd. near Highway 25. Laval police Sergeant Simon Charette said police were still trying to determine whether Desjardins was a target in the shooting. “For now these are two important witnesses. Depending on what comes out of the interviews with witnesses (Desjardins) could become a victim, or a suspect possibly,” Charette said. The shots were fired near Desjardins’ residence, on the bank of the Rivière des Prairies in Laval’s St. Vincent de Paul district. Police were called around 9:30 a.m. by residents in the area who heard gunshots. Police arrived to find two cars riddled with bullet holes, one at the site of the shooting, and one a kilometre and a half to the east. Desjardins was found near the second car, while the other man, who police did not identify, was found in a wooded area nearby. Desjardins was not injured. The second man had a minor abdominal injury but not a gunshot wound. There were many witnesses to the incident and investigators were still trying to get warrants to search the vehicles Friday night. During the early 1990s, Desjardins was considered by police to have been a very close associate of Rizzuto, who is currently serving time in a penitentiary in the U.S. The two men were practically neighbours two decades ago. Desjardins was considered such an important figure in the mob at one point that police referred to their clan as the Rizzuto-Desjardins organization. In 1994, Desjardins received a 15-year sentence for drug smuggling. He was caught trying to smuggle more than 700 kilograms of cocaine into Canada with influential members of the Hells Angels. While he was serving that sentence corrections officials learned that Desjardins held considerable sway among organized crime figures who were also behind bars. In 2004, just before Desjardins was released from a penitentiary, the National Board Board described him, in a summary of a decision granting him a statutory release, as having “acquired over the years an important status at the heads of criminal organizations and maintained those associations inside the penitentiary.” In 1995, the federal government ordered an investigation after it was discovered Desjardins arranged to have a jogging track built at the Leclerc Institution while he was serving time there. The investigation revealed Desjardins made it appear the track was built for $461.52 from an inmates fund, when in fact the work was worth a great deal more. According to the Quebec business registry, in 2005, one year after his release from a penitentiary, Desjardins started a company currently listed as dealing in large construction and forestry machinery. His name was mentioned often in 2009, in stories by La Presse and Radio Canada, because of his links to Jocelyn Dupuis, the former head of the Quebec Federation of Labour’s construction wing. In an interview with La Presse in March 2009, Desjardins said he was involved in residential development and described Dupuis, who has since been charged with fraud, as a friend. Desjardins complained both their names were being dragged through the mud because of his past.

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