2023-07-10 04:00:00
Businessman Robert Giroux says he is the subject of a “campaign of smearing, intimidation and threats” from some of the Quebec millionaires who have invested in Groupe Huot and is now urging the court to quash the seizure orders issued once morest him.
• Read also: Debacle of the Huot Group: Quebec millionaires evoke a “Ponzi scheme” and claim $ 150 million
• Read also: Businessman Robert Giroux denies setting up a “scheme similar to a Ponzi scheme”
“On several occasions, some of the plaintiffs have clearly expressed their desire to punish me,” said Robert Giroux in a sworn statement filed last Friday at the Quebec courthouse.
Robert Giroux and his companies are currently facing two civil lawsuits totaling $150 million from Quebec City millionaires. Through two funds operated by Robert Giroux (SH and Q-12), the plaintiffs invested colossal sums in the Huot Group, in exchange for a return of 12% per year.
The millionaires now claim that the businessman would have enriched himself at their expense and that he would have set up a “scheme which resembles a Ponzi scheme”. “Spectacular” allegations dismissed out of hand by the defendant.
“The allegations relating to the establishment, development and implementation of a ‘Ponzi’ style scheme are of a criminal nature and very serious”, insists in his affidavit Robert Giroux, who maintains that these allegations tarnished his reputation and shocked those close to him.
Huot allegedly refused to sell
In his statement, the businessman also reveals more regarding the origins of the financial debacle of the Huot Group. At the end of 2021, Stéphan Huot would have been informed that the SH fund would not renew its funding in 2023.
Under the obligation to reimburse these lenders in 2022, the owner of the Huot Group would have requested and obtained several purchase offers “at very attractive prices” for his rental properties, which would have been “largely sufficient to reimburse” his debt. But the promoter would have refused to sell, argues Robert Giroux.
“Stéphan Huot wanted to obtain even more advantageous prices and even aspired to set records in terms of selling prices for the Quebec region,” writes the defendant.
At the same time, interest rates started to climb significantly. Stéphan Huot would then have realized that he might not sell his real estate at the prices offered in the past.
It is that the value of the properties of the Huot Group would have decreased, as would the equity under guarantee, going from nearly $240 million in 2022 to an amount estimated between $50 and $70 million in 2023, according to estimates by Robert Giroux. . Some $525 million of Stéphan Huot’s financing would have been at variable rates, which would have contributed to the insolvency of the Huot Group, argues the defendant.
Huot would therefore have mandated a firm to raise capital for his residential complexes. A plan called “Marvel” would have been set up to collect between 120 and 140 M$. But at the beginning of 2023, Robert Giroux would have realized that this plan might not materialize.
Cassation of seizures
In the wake of the $150 million lawsuit, the court on June 29 ordered the seizure of buildings, land, shares and bank accounts belonging to Robert Giroux, in addition to temporarily prohibiting him from selling or mortgage his property. Robert Giroux is now challenging those orders.
DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
In a request for revocation of judgment filed Friday, Robert Giroux argues, among other things, that the plaintiffs failed in their obligation “of frank and complete disclosure of the evidence”. In particular, they would not have explained the reasons for the collapse of the Huot Group, just as they would not have notified the court that the millionaires were “qualified investors”.
“A qualified investor is therefore well aware that the value of investments may fluctuate, that there is no guarantee of positive return and that investments may be subject to partial or total loss of the capital invested – this omission, too , is unforgivable”, affirms the lawyer of Robert Giroux, in his request.
The case is due back in court on Monday.
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