Montreal loses an important player

One of the six businessmen who have been introduced as members of the Montreal Baseball Group is officially distancing himself from the group and claiming to have no financial connection to the venture.

“He has no financial relationship with the project to bring baseball back to Montreal or with the Montreal Baseball Group more specifically,” said company spokesperson at the time, Stéphane Kretter, president of international security firm GardaWorld. I asked him about the tax status of the businessman.

And while his association with the Montreal baseball group has been crystal clear since the start of the project led by Montreal billionaire Stephen Bronfman, Mr. Cretier has “no formal commitment to the Baseball Return Project or to the group.” A spokeswoman for Isabel Banelli.

Questions from our Bureau of Investigation relate to several documents Revenu Québec recently requested from GardaWord regarding its boss. In all likelihood, the Quebec tax authorities are seeking to verify Mr. Cretier’s tax residence. He was described as residing in Dubai, UAE, last year.

This question is also of political importance since the Baseball Montreal Group is requesting government financial assistance to implement its project, and thus the money paid from Quebec taxes. In fact, La Presse revealed at the beginning of December that Stephen Bronfman’s group was asking the Quebec government for a contribution of up to a few hundred million dollars for the Montreal baseball stadium project.

Baseball or not?

So why is Stéphane Cretier now distancing himself from Groupe Baseball Montréal? However, many media outlets, without needing to correct themselves, confirmed that Mr. Cretier had been part of this group for several months.

Stéphane Cretier’s name also appeared in a press release issued by law firm BCF in December 2018. Mr. Cretier was presented as a “key player” in the “group of business leaders working hard to bring a team back from the league. Pioneer in baseball (LMB) in Montreal” .

The continuous efforts of the key players in the group are commendable: congratulations to the captain […] Stephen Bronfman & Associates, Pierre Boivin […], Alain Bouchard […]Mitch Garber […]Eric Boyko […] and Stephen Critter […] ‘,” the press release confirmed.

In articles from 2015 and 2018 published in La Presse, Stéphan Crétier loudly stated his desire to become a contributor to Expos.

Articles published in recent days continue to link Mr. Cretier to the project. In a photo dated 2019, we also see Stephan Kretter with Stephen Bronfman, Alain Bouchard, and Eric Boyko in front of an Expos logo background.

“Mr. Cretier has always been very interested in baseball, as he has been a referee for many years. His involvement with Groupe Baseball Montreal has always been limited and partisan,” Isabel Panelli recently qualified by email.

Millions of public money

Our Bureau of Investigation reported last year that Mr. Cretier, although he runs a 16,000-employee company headquartered in Montreal, has described himself as a resident of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for several years. Experts our FBI has consulted have expressed doubts that he still pays his taxes in Quebec.

According to the information received by our Bureau of Investigation, Revenu Québec has also checked the tax residence status of Mr. Cretier.

A letter dated September 8 on Revenu Québec paper obtained by our FBI gave Garda 45 days to provide a very comprehensive list of documents for the period from 2012 to today, including details. About Mr. Crétier’s wages, Mr. Crétier’s agendas, accounts for cell phones, plane tickets and vehicles used by the CEO.

Isabelle Banelli did not wish to comment on this information.

We cannot say more on this subject. As per our company policy that applies to all of our employees, we cannot obtain details of an employee’s file, regardless of their level. Thus, we cannot deny or confirm the information in your possession,” the master wrote to us.^I paintings.