Primary Suspect Among Five New Arrests in Desjardins Data Leak Case
Quebec provincial police have arrested five additional individuals connected to the massive data breach at Desjardins, including the former bank employee initially suspected of orchestrating the leak.
Early Thursday morning, three men and one woman were detained, following the Laval police’s announcement of their own related arrests. Later that day, Charles Bernier turned himself in to the authorities.
The five individuals face charges of fraud, identity theft, and the illegal possession and sale of personal information. Sébastien Boulanger-Dorval, 42, was also charged with using a computer for fraud. Boulanger-Dorval, the primary suspect in the leak, was employed at Desjardins on a marketing team at the time and allegedly sold the data to settle debts.
In addition to Bernier and Boulanger-Dorval, Jean-Loup Masse-Leullier, Laurence Bernier, and François Baillargeon-Bouchard were also arrested and charged. Arrest warrants have been issued for three other suspects: Maxime Paquette and Pablo Serrano, believed to be hiding abroad, and Mathieu Joncas.
The charges specify that the crimes occurred between October 1, 2016, and May 27, 2019. The Desjardins data breach, made public in 2019, came to the authorities’ attention in December 2018 after a suspicious transaction indicated a problem.
Benoit Richard, coordinator of broadcasting and media relations with the Sûreté du Québec, stated that the complex investigation took years to ensure all necessary evidence was collected.
On Wednesday, Laval police reported the arrest of three individuals connected to the breach. Imad Jbara, 33, and Ayoub Kourdal, 36, were charged with fraud, trafficking in identity information, and identity theft. The third suspect has yet to appear in court, and an arrest warrant has been issued for a fourth suspect.
The data breach at the Quebec-based credit union is considered one of the largest in Canadian financial history, impacting approximately 9.7 million individuals and businesses.”
