Former Ski Coach Bertrand Charest Faces $11 Million Lawsuit for Alleged Fraud Following Prison Sentence for Sex Crimes

“A carefully planned and orchestrated fraudulent scheme. »

This is how the National Bank of Canada (NBC) describes in a lawsuit filed at the end of June the fraud allegedly skillfully perpetrated by former real estate broker Sarah Cordato and her partner Denis Vallée in just four days, in May. last.

The court file was only unsealed this week thanks to the intervention of The Press. It was therefore impossible for us to talk about it earlier.

The BNC is demanding $3 million from the Cordato-Vallée couple, from companies under their control and from Think Glass Le verre repensé inc., a glass manufacturing company founded by Bertrand Charest. The latter is not personally targeted as a defendant in the suit.

“I was completely stunned [en apprenant la fraude]. It took me weeks to understand how it happened,” says Bertrand Charest, in an interview with The Press.

The businessman strongly denies having received a penny in this affair. On the contrary, his company lost more than $1 million due to the “great betrayal” of his ex-partner Denis Vallée, he says. “It’s Mr. Vallée who is behind all this,” says Charest in an interview.

Bertrand Charest was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the 2010s for sexually assaulting or exploiting nine young athletes, while he was an elite ski coach in the 1990s. The judge had portrayed him as a “ sexual predator weaving his web carefully” to trap his victims. He was granted full parole in April 2020. His sentence ended last February.

“It’s completely crazy,” says Charest

Sarah Cordato and Denis Vallée pose as victims of Bertrand Charest in this affair: they are demanding $11.1 million from him, as well as from the companies Think Glass Le verre repensé and Gesthink, in a lawsuit filed this week at the courthouse in Montreal.

Denis Vallée criticizes Bertrand Charest for having sold him the company Gesthink for 11 million, but for having changed his mind “unilaterally” in May 2023 after receiving the funds. Bertrand Charest then agreed to repay the amount, but “voluntarily” failed to make the amounts available, it is alleged.

This is what would have led the Cordato-Vallées to be “wrongly targeted” by the BNC and to then pursue Bertrand Charest. They claim in their motion that Charest “validly authorized” all of the alleged fraudulent transactions, and even “expressly requested” some of them. In short, if Charest had honored his agreement, Denis Vallée and Sarah Cordato would never have been targeted by these allegations of fraud, they argue.

Through their lawyer, M^me Cordato and Mr. Vallée did not wish to comment further.

“It’s completely crazy,” insists Bertrand Charest. He claims to have “never” had an agreement with Denis Vallée to sell him his business. “No dollars. I haven’t seen the color of any dollar, neither here nor elsewhere,” he insists.

Bertrand Charest denies having shown “negligence” – as the BNC maintains – and prefers to evoke his “great naivety”. He says he met Denis Vallée in prison and gave him a “second chance” to make him his business partner, with the hope of selling the company to him in 2025.

Questioned about his sexual crimes which shattered the lives of many women, Bertrand Charest repeated “bitterly regretting” his actions.

The BNC persists and signs

According to the BNC, Sarah Cordato and Denis Vallée are the architects of this fraud. In May 2023, they allegedly appropriated at least $3.08 million from the Bank by illegally using Think Glass’s bank account. Thus, they would have cashed “fraudulent” checks without funds issued by companies under their control, alleges the BNC in its request.

Sarah Cordato would likely have squandered the funds by transferring them to individuals and companies, alleges the BNC, including a jewelry store in Wyoming and Bijouterie Medusa, established in Quebec. The ex-broker also allegedly purchased vehicles in the name of Cordato Immobilier, it is alleged. The amounts are redacted in the request. “We never participated, either directly or indirectly, in the alleged fraudulent scheme,” defends Julien Duguay, director of Bijouterie Medusa, in a statement provided to The Press.

The numerous transfers were made simultaneously with the deposit of the bad checks, making it appear that the defendants acted “in concert to carry out a rapid squandering of the sums fraudulently obtained by Think Glass and Cordato Immobilier”, alleges the BNC.

The BNC accuses Bertrand Charest of having been “negligent” by granting Sarah Cordato the banking codes of his company, without notifying the banking institution. It was by using these accesses that Sarah Cordato was able to “squander significant sums from the BNC Account, without any supervision”, alleges the bank, which thus considers Think Glass responsible for the losses.

The bank maintains that Think Glass did nothing when Cordato Immobilier – a company owned by Sarah Cordato – and a notary were added as beneficiaries of the bank account.

Bertrand Charest had however been informed of these additions, assures the Bank. Thus, Mr. Charest could have identified the “unauthorized” transactions since he connected several times to the company’s bank account during this period, according to the Bank.

During the alleged scheme, Sarah Cordato, through her real estate “alter ego”, purchased in May 2023 a luxurious residence for $1.4 million on Chemin de Bélair, in Quebec. The National Bank is now seeking to permanently seize this residence, as well as several Rolex watches and gold jewelry owned by the Cordato-Vallées.

Sarah Cordato no longer has a valid brokerage license since 1^is May 2023, confirmed this summer at The Press the OACIQ, the authority on real estate brokerage. Her license was revoked because she did not pay her practice fees, we were told.