The first trial of the UPAC finally solved

File Photo, Daniel Mallard
The trial of the co-founder of EBR Informatique Mohamed El Khayat, and of the official Abdelaziz Younsi resulted in a guilty verdict.

Kathleen Frenette

Friday, march 16, 2018 10:17

UPDATE
Friday, 16 march, 2018 23:55

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The first trial of the UPAC, which opened in December, 2015, just result, 27 months later, a guilty verdict rendered in respect of Abdelaziz Younsi, the former leader of the department of computer science at the department of public Safety, and Mohamed El Khayat, co-founder of the firm, EBR.

• READ ALSO: UPAC hits still the computer scientist El Khayat

The two men were accused of breach of trust, conspiracy and a fraud, which would have lasted more than three years and cost approximately $ 300,000 to the quebec State.

In the course of the trial, the prosecution has succeeded in proving that the two men maneuvered for Computing EBR to obtain a public contract of renewal of the computers of a value of $3.3 million.

It was also blamed for two men to have implemented a parallel accounting between EBR and the ministry of public Security.

For the judge Alain Morand, who heard the case, the witnesses in this case are credible because they appeared sincere, and that their statements, even if they are sometimes imperfect or dissimilar, is in harmony with the totality of the evidence “.

On the contrary, the magistrate held that the testimony of Younsi, even if it contained certain admissions, was “not credible” because he was trying ” to bring to others the responsibility of his acts.”

Regarding Mohamed El-Kayat, the latter did not testify in the trial. But the president of the tribunal recalled that “his false statements” made during his interrogation and its two subsequent declarations are ” contradictory and false “. This is why the judge has established that the individual was ” not frank nor reliable “.

Investigation of UPAC

Recall that the direction of the investigations on the corruption of the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) has received information for the first time in 2013, the personal relations between the two accused, ” and irregularities in the conduct of the affairs of the directorate of information technology at the department of public Safety with the firm EBR “.

June 4, 2014, a search was performed in the offices of EBR and the 20th of June, the investigators proceeded to the arrest of Younsi and al-Kayat.

The two men were “close friends” who knew each other for more than 10 years and who had regular contacts, “sharing meals, going out” and doing the same trips in Europe and North Africa where they are from all two, ” recalled the judge.

Next April, the attorneys will meet again to discuss comments on a sentence, but already the public prosecutor for criminal and penal prosecutions, Mr. Julien Tardif, has made it known that he intended to seek a sentence of imprisonment.