This man has a double identity. His company makes millions through public contracts

A personal security company that has actually protected numerous countless dollars in public agreements is headed by a male with a double identity, and the business’s doubtful organization practices have actually made it the target of an examination, Radio-Canada’s Enquête program has actually discovered.

In the last years, Neptune has actually won public agreements throughout Canada, most significantly with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Sûreté du Québec, Quebec’s provincial police. It has actually likewise offered security to a number of court houses in Quebec, does building and construction deal with military bases and has roadwork agreements with Ontario’s Transport Ministry.

In an e-mail, the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP), the firm that supervises public agreements in Quebec, validated that it is examining the business.

Sources with understanding of the security company’s operations explain Robert Butler as the head of the business. Butler rejects this.

“I am not the head of Neptune. I do not handle Neptune, neither straight nor indirectly,” Butler informed Enquête throughout a telephone call.

Rather, he declares to work for Neptune’s building wing which the company is “huge, huge.”

This opposes what he informed the Quebec Superior Court in 2019 and 2020, when he affirmed under oath and stated he was Neptune’s CEO.

Neptune has actually had a number of legal fights recently, consisting of with the City of Montreal and Quebec City.

“I look after the business’s service in various parts of the world,” Butler informed the judge while responding to concerns from his attorney.

In 2019, Henry Jenkins, a previous guard with Neptune, got an unanticipated telephone call.

At the time, he was looking for a couple of hundred dollars he thought the business owed him. He stated the caller presented himself as Robert Butler and stated he was Neptune’s owner.

“He wasn’t pleased. He was upset. He began chewing out me,” Jenkins stated.

“He informed me that he would utilize all of the funds of his organization to clean me out economically, which [the process] might last 10 years if he desired.”

The name Robert Butler does not appear on the business’s site. It likewise isn’t consisted of in any of the business’s main files.

While attempting to discover Neptune’s organizational structure and find out who was running things, Enquête validated that Butler likewise passes a 2nd name: Badreddine Ahmadoun.

That’s the name he utilizes when he is running a realty company called Land/Max. Both Land/Max and Neptune are headquartered in Mississauga, Ont.

Martine Valois, an attorney and teacher with the Université de Montréal, states “to present yourself as another person or with 2 identities is scams.”

“He’s the one acting upon behalf of the business. He can’t, at the very same time, be a various individual with other functions,” Valois stated.

“I discover that really uneasy, really uneasy offered the nature of the services being rendered.”

‘Working in the shadows’

Enquête utilized a covert electronic camera to tape 2 conferences with the guy shrouded in secret.

In both cases, Radio-Canada factors appeared at his workplace and provided themselves as prospective customers. In one conference, he presented himself as Robert Butler. In the other, he stated his name was Badreddine Ahmadoun.

Throughout the conference about Neptune, Butler boasted about the business’s public agreements, consisting of work for the Department of National Defence (DND). He likewise stated that Neptune has “supersecret” security clearances.

“We have authorizations for guns and the transfer of individuals who are apprehended,” he stated, while including that the business chooses “operating in the shadows.”

In the telephone call with Radio-Canada, which happened after the privately tape-recorded conferences, Butler confessed to having actually utilized the name Badreddine Ahmadoune.

“The name I deal with is Robert Butler. I have files that were customized [to that effect],” he stated, though he decreased to offer evidence.

When asked what his genuine name was, his response was company.

“That’s not your issue, which one is genuine and which isn’t genuine,” he stated. “I can pick any name.”

Radio-Canada sources state Butler would describe himself as being the president, the owner, or the head of operations at Neptune.

“But his name never ever appeared anywhere. He never ever wished to sign an agreement,” stated a previous Neptune worker. “He does whatever, whatever, whatever. He has his hand in whatever.”

Radio-Canada consented to keep the worker’s identity since they fear reprisals.

Throughout a current telephone call to Neptune’s Quebec workplace, a staff member described Butler as “the huge employer.”

Doubtful practices and lost agreements

The previous Neptune staff member explains Robert Butler as a guy who “has his own guideline book.”

“He believed he was above all laws,” the worker stated. “Whether it’s for work records, labour standards or whatever, he didn’t care.”

Recently, Neptune has actually encountered issues with personnel and customers, and a few of those concerns have actually resulted in it losing agreements.

In 2016, Neptune lost an agreement in the Montreal district of Verdun due to overbilling.

“After the truth, we asked ourselves: ‘How did we offer agreements to a business like this? Should we have been more cautious?” stated Jean-François Parenteau, the district’s previous mayor.

“But they were the most affordable bidder. They were recognized. They were certified. We were obliged [to give them the contract]”

Radio-Canada just recently found out that Neptune lost a $42-million agreement with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to deal with monitoring at a migration detention centre in Laval, Que.

Absence of devices, personnel and training were amongst the factors for ending the arrangement that had actually been signed last summer season. According to the CBSA, these problems might have endangered the security of migrants at a detention centre.

Examination nearly finished up, choice looms

The Quebec federal government developed the Autorité des marchés publics (AMP) in 2017.

This remained in direct reaction to among the leading suggestions by the Charbonneau commission, which was charged with examining corruption in the province’s building market.

“The Autorité des marchés publics has the power to take a look at not just the business structure of an organization that wishes to get public agreements, however all of business and individuals that are connected to it,” stated Valois, the law teacher.

“If Mr. Butler, who likewise has a double identity, lags Neptune despite the fact that he is no place to be discovered on the province’s service computer registry, neither as an administrator nor an investor, then that’s where you can misguide the Autorité des marchés publics“

If authorities identify that Neptune has actually made incorrect statements or does not fulfill the federal government’s requirements with regard to stability, the personal security company might lose its right to bid on public agreements.

The AMP informed Radio-Canada that its examination into Neptune is practically total.

“A choice will be made soon,” the firm composed.

On Thursday, Quebec Public Security Minister François Bonnardel sent out a letter to the Bureau de la sécurité privée (BSP), which manages the province’s personal security market and problems allows to business like Neptune.

In the letter, acquired by Radio-Canada, the minister composes that the reporting by Enquête exposes “a number of doubts associated with the stability of the governance of the Neptune company.”

“Since this business holds an authorization provided by the Bureau de la sécurité privée and its shipment rests upon the regard of stringent conditions, I ask that confirmations concerning this business be performed rapidly and, if needed, suitable followups be performed in compliance with the Private Security Act.”

The hidden owner

On paper, Hanane Outair is noted as the sole owner and administrator of Neptune.

While affirming in court, nevertheless, Butler stated he reported to her as the business’s CEO one or two times annually.

Outair has a house in the Toronto location, not far from the Neptune workplaces. Enquête come by her house however was informed that she was missing.

According to sources, Butler has actually created her signature on business files.

“I never ever signed the name Hanane Outair,” stated Butler, though he acknowledged that the lady is an ex-partner. “You are speaking about my individual life here.”

Butler informed Enquête not to call her. Outair decreased to be spoken with for this story.