Michael Applebaum, the Mayor of Montreal, resigned today amid accusations of corruption and fraud.
Applebaum became mayor of the largest city in Quebec in November 2012. Gerald Tremblay, the previous mayor, resigned after accusations of accepting mafia money. A fraud investigation conducted by France Charbonneau, a judge, reveals that this Canadian province has a troubled history of construction fraud, kickbacks, and links to mafia crime.
"It's a systemic issue, and we realize from the Charbonneau inquiry that, over the past two decades, perhaps even the past three decades, the system was infiltrated by dark forces," City Council Speaker Harout Chitilian told the Canadian Broadcast Corporation in a Reuters report.
Richard Bergeron, the opposition leader, told MSN News, "[w]e have just gone through another episode in the horror story. Let's hope this is the last episode."
Applebaum stands accused of 14 separate crimes related to real estate transactions from2006 – 2011.
Both former mayors have denied the allegations against them.
Citizens will vote for a new mayor in November.