A Laurentian entrepreneur who allegedly swindled nearly fifteen clients out of several thousand dollars by fleeing with deposits without doing his job was accused of fraud on Thursday.
“I was naive. But it was hard to know it was a scam,” says Sonia Vallée, 72, who was allegedly robbed of around $8,000 by Martin Dionne.
“I spent a year with a newborn without a kitchen. It shows how heinous he is,” adds a dismayed lady who wants to hide her identity and is also one of the 48-year-old entrepreneur’s alleged victims.
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Martin Dionne was charged with fraud against 14 people at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse on Thursday.
He appeared at the Saint-Jérôme courthouse on Thursday.
He is accused of defrauding 12 people out of more than $5,000 and two others out of a smaller amount between 2020 and 2021 through tricks, lies or other fraudulent means.
According to our information, Dionne could have raked in a handsome sum of nearly $300,000 from the combined losses of his 14 victims.
The inhabitant of Brébeuf in the Laurentians would have used his fraudulent plan under several names and with different company numbers.
His victims did business with him through Cuisine et salle de bain Mont-Tremblant Inc. and Cabanon Laurentides.
They come from Laval, Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Faustin–Lac-Carré, Lac-Supérieur, Amherst, Nominingue and Rivière-Rouge.
According to several victim testimonies collected by Le Journal, Dionne, who was described as a “talker,” always presented himself professionally.
“He was clean, he spoke well. He had a nice car,” explains Ms Vallée, who feels she learned a bitter lesson from this frustrating experience.
Courtesy of Sonia Vallee
Sonia Vallée, alleged victim of Martin Dionne.
The contractor would also have taken the time to provide estimates, take measurements and discuss the projects with each of their customers.
Only then did it go wrong.
“He had contracts signed, collected deposits and didn’t finish the work,” summarizes Sergeant Marc Tessier, spokesman for the Sûreté du Québec.
“I signed a check for $5,000 and then never saw it again. He always had all sorts of reasons [de contretemps]says Alain Leblanc, 65, a former financial services company owner. “I pretty much screwed it up.”
“My fault is that I didn’t check his driver’s license with the Régie du Bâtiment du Québec,” he continues. He didn’t have any.
“For me it was only a few thousand dollars, but for some we’re talking about $20,000 for a kitchen.” It’s about money,” said another victim, who also asked to remain anonymous.
Some customers would have faced completely torn kitchens without any news from Dionne. It would have been difficult for them to find charitable souls to resume the botched work afterwards.
Courtesy of Sophie Gambier
Completely destroyed kitchen of Sophie Gambier who was cheated out of almost $20,000 by Dionne.
Dionne was eventually arrested in February 2022.
The authorities assume that other injured customers will file a complaint after the allegations have been made public.
His case will be heard again in court next June.