Businessman Andre Gautier has finally returned home after serving nearly five years in prison in the United Arab Emirates.
The geologist, who was released from prison on June 10, arrived in Toronto on Wednesday, where he spent three days alone. The original Saguen was currently in Quebec, where he was confined to his wife, whom he had not seen for more than five years.
“I’m definitely looking forward to 328 days for this call,” Gautir said in an interview with TVA Novels. People at the embassy warned me 12 hours before I was leaving the United Arab Emirates. I could not even contact him to let my wife know I was safe. ”
His problems began in 2015 when he was suspected of being behind a $ 30 million fraud in the mining sector, which he himself denied.
He was first detained in Dubai between December 2015 and May 2017 until he was cleared by United Arab Emirates authorities and released from prison in June 2020, followed by a second 13 months.
The civil actions brought against him prevented him from returning to the country.
“Prison is prison. It’s not a piece of cake, especially when COVID starts and they isolate us at the slightest feature, but the people there are always right with us, ”he said.
And since many of his mining allies have a share in their problems, forgiving himself is not an option for him.
“For me, the problems they have are very important, not more than me,” he said. I can’t let myself go for it. “
He said that he had only one episode of great despair and asked his wife and children to forget about him during this time.
“I was ready in my head. I told them not to wait for me anymore, ”Mr. Gautir said. The only people who said “we’re going to bring you back” were my kids and my wife. “
They quickly turned to the Conservative MP for Chikoutimi – Le Ford, Richard Martel, who had worked tirelessly on file for the past two years.
“With the openness of the ministers who co-operated with me, we felt we had set aside partisanship to focus on the people and their families. I can tell you about it and I have goose bumps,” Mr. Martell said, moving visually through this happy outcome.
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