Latest news with #LeDevoir


Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Drowning in debt: Canadian dad charged with killing daughter in US struggled with child support; deleted company bio hints 'affected will-being'
A Canadian father charged with murdering his 9-year-old daughter faces substantial financial difficulties and had trouble meeting child support obligations, whilst making unsettling posts about his daughter's impact on his daily routine. During his Monday court appearance for allegedly killing his daughter Melina in upstate New York, Luciano Frattolin, 45, who portrayed himself as a successful coffee company proprietor, declared his inability to afford legal representation and even offor child support, reported the NY Post. Frattolin, Ethiopia-born, praised Melina on his Montreal-based Gabella Coffee company's website, describing her as "beautiful" and "the light of his life.'' However, the corporate biography revealed concerning insights into his mental state. He acknowledged adjusting to his daughter's "messy art projects" and "chaotic" toys despite his fixation with maintaining "perfect order" in his residence. His biography, now removed from the internet, referenced personal hardships, including experiences with "incidences of racism," "feelings of isolation" and losing his father during his teenage years. He referenced an "unfortunate event" in 2019 that "severely affected his well-being" requiring a "long and arduous" recovery period. Police confirmed his estrangement from his former wife that year. Beyond personal struggles and marital discord, Frattolin accumulated over $200,000 in business-related debt in Montreal. Since 2020, he rented property in Montreal's Mile End district, operating it as an Airbnb . He employed two property managers to handle operations and rent payments, using the proceeds for child support payments, according to court documents. His landlord terminated the lease in August 2024 following $26,000 in unpaid rent. He lost access to the property containing his daughter's winter clothing and toys. He initiated legal action against the two managers for $115,000, alleging unauthorised property exploitation and failure to make promised rent payments, as reported by Le Devoir. The managers countered that Frattolin intended to empty his accounts and leave the country, which he denied. A Dépanneur Café employee reported Frattolin, who still owes Bank of Nova Scotia $83,000, had been dividing his time between Italy and Canada for 18 months. The bank cited additional unpaid credit card debts of $97,000 from Café Gambella, another establishment sharing his online coffee business name. As he drowned in debt, his Instagram presence portrayed affluence, featuring exotic travels and luxury vehicles, including statements like "I am truly addicted to Porsche." Prior to his daughter's death, they were holidaying near Lake George, approximately 30 miles from where her body was discovered. Before authorities found the child's remains, Frattolin falsely reported her kidnapping by two men in a white van near I-87's Exit 22, shortly after she contacted her mother before their scheduled return to Quebec. He entered a not-guilty plea to charges of second-degree murder, potentially carrying a life sentence in New York, and concealment of a human corpse. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 25. Case background: The Canadian father and his nine-year-old daughter arrived in the US for a vacation on July 11, touring parts of Connecticut and New York, including New York City. On Saturday evening, around 5:30 pm (local time), surveillance footage showed them at a restaurant in Saratoga Springs. It was the final day of their trip, with plans to be in Montreal the following day. At approximately 6:30 pm, Melina contacted her mother and assured her that she was safe. Police believe she was killed sometime between that phone call and a 911 call made by her father at 9:58 pm. During the call, Luciano Frattolin claimed he had stopped his vehicle to relieve himself in the woods, and upon returning, found Melina missing. He told police that two men had abducted her in a white van. An Amber Alert was issued, sparking an urgent search for the missing girl. But investigators soon began to question the abduction story. By 10:50 am on Sunday, Melina's body was found in the shallow end of a pond in Ticonderoga, concealed under a log. An autopsy will determine the cause of death. So far, no motive has been established. Despite being under her mother's custody, Melina was permitted to travel with her father. Luciano Frattolin had no prior criminal record in Canada, and his estranged wife reportedly did not consider him a danger to their daughter. The couple had separated in 2019, with the mother receiving full custody and the father retaining visitation rights, including travel privileges.


International Business Times
a day ago
- International Business Times
Luciano Frattolin: Dad Who Killed His Daughter Was Struggling to Pay Child Support as He Tells Court He's Broke and Can't Hire a Lawyer
The Canadian father charged with murdering his nine-year-old daughter was reportedly drowning in debt, was struggling to keep up with child support payments—and shared bizarre social posts claiming the young girl had turned his life upside down. Luciano Frattolin, 45, who once claimed himself to be a successful coffee business owner living a lavish lifestyle, appeared in court on Monday facing charges of killing his daughter Melina during a trip to upstate New York. He told a judge that he couldn't hire a lawyer. This came as it was revealed that Frattolin hid his daughter's body in a remote pond after telling cops that two men had kidnapped her. Motive Behind Murder Luciano Frattolin's mugshot after his arrest X Frattolin, who was born in Ethiopia, praised Melina on the official website of his Montreal-based coffee business, Gambella Coffee, describing her as "beautiful" and "the light of his life." However, the write-up also revealed unsettling clues about his troubled mental state. He admitted struggling to cope with his daughter's "messy art projects" and "chaotic" toys, because of his obsession with keeping "perfect order" in his home. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram In the biography — which has since been removed from the web — he also referenced a life marked by deep personal struggles, mentioning experiences with "racism," "feelings of isolation," and the loss of his father as a teenager. Frattolin hints at a "unfortunate event" in 2019 that he claimed had a serious impact on his mental health and forced him onto a "long and arduous" path toward healing. Police revealed during a press conference on Monday that he became estranged from his ex-wife that same year. Alongside emotional turmoil and a strained relationship with his former spouse, Frattolin was also dealing with over $200,000 in debt linked to his business ventures in Montreal. Since 2020, the struggling businessman had been renting a property in Montreal's trendy Mile End neighborhood, which he subleased on Airbnb, according to La Presse. He hired two property managers to run the venture, including handling rent payments—allowing him to use the remaining income to cover child support, according to court records reviewed by the outlet. Struggling to Survive However, his lease was terminated by the landlord in August 2024 after he fell behind by $26,000 in rent. He was subsequently barred from accessing the property, where he claimed he kept his daughter's winter clothes and toys. Melina Frattolin X Frattolin is now suing the property managers for more than $115,000, alleging they misused the rental unit without his consent and failed to pay the rent as agreed, according to Le Devoir. In response, the property managers accused Frattolin planned to empty his bank account and leave the country — a claim he has denied. A former staff member at Dépanneur Café, a coffee shop previously owned by Frattolin, said he had been splitting his time between Italy and Canada over the past year and a half. Frattolin reportedly still owes the Bank of Nova Scotia around $83,000 related to that business. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram The bank also claims he is responsible for another $97,000 in unpaid credit card debt from Café Gambella, a second coffee venture that shares its name with his online coffee brand. However, Frattolin's Instagram painted a starkly different picture of his finances, filled with images of luxurious travel, high-end sports cars, and captions like "I'm truly addicted to Porsche." He and his daughter were on a vacation in the Lake George area shortly before she was killed — just about 30 miles from where her body was later discovered. Prior to the grim discovery, police said Frattolin had filed a false report claiming that Milena had been abducted by two men in a white van near Exit 22 on I-87 — less than an hour after she had spoken to her mother by phone before their scheduled flight back to Quebec. Captain Robert McConnell said that Frattolin killed his daughter Melina on Saturday night while they were vacationing near the scenic town of Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains, roughly 60 miles north of Albany. Luciano Frattolin with his daughter Melina Instagram Frattolin and Melina had entered the U.S. legally and had been on vacation since July 11, with plans to return to Quebec on Sunday. On Monday, Frattolin pleaded not guilty in court. He was charged with second-degree murder — a crime that could result in a life sentence under New York law — along with a charge for hiding a human corpse. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 25.

Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Sky News AU
Accused killer dad Luciano Frattolin may have been struggling to pay dead nine-year-old daughter Melina's child support as staggering debt is revealed
Accused killer dad Luciano Frattolin may have been struggling to cover child support for his daughter, owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to creditors despite depicting a high-flying lifestyle on social media. The flailing 45-year-old Canadian coffee entrepreneur — charged Monday with the murder of his 9-year-old daughter Melina during a trip to upstate New York — had rented a property in the hip Montreal enclave of Mile End since 2020, which he sublet as an Airbnb, according to a report in La Presse. He hired two property managers to run the venture, including having them make the rent payments he owed — enabling him to pay his daughter's child support with what he netted afterward, he said in court documents obtained by the outlet. But his lease was terminated by the landlord in August 2024 when he fell $26,000 behind in rent. He was also being denied access to the property, where he said he stored his daughter's winter clothing and toys. He is currently suing the managers for more than $115,000, claiming they exploited the property without his knowledge and never made the rent payments as promised, according to Le Devoir. In turn, the managers alleged Frattolin had planned to empty his bank account and flee the country, which he denied. An employee of Dépanneur Café, a coffee shop Frattolin once owned and on which he still owes Bank of Nova Scotia about $83,000, said the accused killer had been splitting his time between Italy and Canada for the past 18 months. The bank said Frattolin also owed them $97,000 in unpaid credit-card debts from Café Gambella, another coffee shop bearing the same name as his online java business, Gambella Coffee. At his arraignment in Ticonderoga Town Court on Monday afternoon, Frattolin said he couldn't afford a lawyer and requested a public defender. But his Instagram page paints a very different picture of his financial situation, rife with photos and posts featuring exotic travel and expensive sports cars and replete with statements such as, 'I am truly addicted to Porsche.' Frattolin and Melina had been traveling across Connecticut and New York as part of a custody arrangement he had with his ex-wife, from whom he split in 2019, New York State Police revealed at a press conference Monday. Melina sounded fine when she made a phone call to her mom about 6:30 p.m., shortly before the girl and her dad were scheduled to fly back to Quebec, police said. The dad then reported her missing that night — claiming she'd been snatched by two men in a white van around 7:40 p.m., just an hour after the call with her mom, the Albany Times-Union said. Hours later, authorities found her body under a log in shallow water near New York's border with Vermont, with cops later saying the kidnapping report he filed was bogus. He was charged with second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse. He's due back in court July 25. Originally published as Accused killer dad Luciano Frattolin may have been struggling to pay dead nine-year-old daughter Melina's child support as staggering debt is revealed


Canada News.Net
05-07-2025
- Business
- Canada News.Net
Quebec to 'Carefully Examine' New Proposal for Saguenay LNG Megaproject
The government of Premier Francois Legault is promising to "carefully examine" a proposal for a new gas liquefaction plant and terminal in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region that would be just as big as the GNL-Quebec megaproject the province rejected in 2021 after years of opposition, Le Devoir revealed in an exclusive dispatch Friday. The proposal by Marinvest Energy Canada, a subsidiary of Bergen, Norway-based Marinvest Energy, would also require a new pipeline through several hundred kilometres of wilderness to connect the plant with TC Energy's Canada-wide gas network, just as GNL-Quebec intended, Le Devoir writes. The gas would be produced by primarily by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a methane-intensive process that is prohibited in Quebec. After squashing the previous LNG proposal, Quebec became the world's first jurisdiction to ban oil and gas exploration in 2022. "We believe there is a strong business case for an LNG [liquefied natural gas] project in Quebec aimed at exporting Canadian natural gas to international markets, particularly in Europe," Greg Cano, one of three Marinvest Energy Canada directors and the only one not based in Norway, told Le Devoir in an email. "We believe Quebec can play a key role in diversifying export options for Canadian natural gas, particularly at a time when relying solely on the U.S. market presents increasing challenges." That optimism runs counter to an analysis released just six weeks ago by Investors for Paris Compliance (IPC), which pointed to an expected 40% increase in global LNG production between 2024 and 2028 to argue that there's no business case for a new terminal in Quebec. European LNG demand was down 18% between 2022 and 2024, and the group said Canadian exporters would also have trouble competing in Asian markets, The Canadian Press reported at the time. "Investing in infrastructure that will be very expensive and likely won't be profitable will weaken our economy rather than strengthen it," economist and IPC senior advisor Renaud Gignac told the news agency. IPC warned that inflation could drive the cost of the $18-billion GNL-Quebec project above $33 billion, making it impossible to complete without taxpayer subsidies. "These are considerable investments that mobilize public capital and labour as well," Gignac said. "When you direct resources to this type of project, you make choices, and we believe there are options that could be more profitable in the long term, for both public and private investors." One of Marinvest's identified lobbying targets, Hydro-Quebec, has been going all-in on those other options, with a planned $185-billion investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and new transmission over the next decade. Cano also tried to position LNG as "carbon-free" energy, even though methane is a climate super-pollutant with about 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over the crucial 20-year span when humanity will be scrambling to get climate change under control. The Legault rejected the notion that gas is carbon-free in its response to the GNL-Quebec bid, "emphasizing in particular that the project that was to be built in Saguenay risked 'disadvantaging the energy transition' in the countries that would purchase this liquefied natural gas," Le Devoir says. A provincial spokesperson told the paper it was too soon to say whether the project would be eligible for subsidies, and the office of Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson wouldn't say whether it would qualify as one of the "nation-building" projects the Carney government is looking for. But "the current context is disrupting several aspects of our economy," a spokesperson for provincial Economy and Energy Minister Christine Frechette told Le Devoir in a statement. "We have always said that if new projects are presented, we are ready to examine them carefully. That is what we will do with this one." The spokesperson added that "social acceptability remains an essential condition for any project, and there will have to be benefits for Quebec." In a release, Greenpeace Canada urged the Carney government to exclude the Marinvest proposal from its list of nation-building projects, while calling on Quebec to "close the door on new fossil fuel transportation and export projects so that it can focus on renewable energy." "We should be building offshore wind farms, not floating fossil fuel plants", said Greenpeace Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart. "There is no way that a fossil fuel project with so little consultation and such a weak business case should be on Mark Carney's list of projects that can bypass environmental laws." Marinvest has hired two lobbyists to carry its message to the provincial government, Le Devoir reports, and two in Ottawa, Greenpeace says.


Canada Standard
05-07-2025
- Business
- Canada Standard
Quebec to 'Carefully Examine' New Proposal for Saguenay LNG Megaproject
The government of Premier Francois Legault is promising to "carefully examine" a proposal for a new gas liquefaction plant and terminal in the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region that would be just as big as the GNL-Quebec megaproject the province rejected in 2021 after years of opposition, Le Devoir revealed in an exclusive dispatch Friday. The proposal by Marinvest Energy Canada, a subsidiary of Bergen, Norway-based Marinvest Energy, would also require a new pipeline through several hundred kilometres of wilderness to connect the plant with TC Energy's Canada-wide gas network, just as GNL-Quebec intended, Le Devoir writes. The gas would be produced by primarily by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a methane-intensive process that is prohibited in Quebec. After squashing the previous LNG proposal, Quebec became the world's first jurisdiction to ban oil and gas exploration in 2022. "We believe there is a strong business case for an LNG [liquefied natural gas] project in Quebec aimed at exporting Canadian natural gas to international markets, particularly in Europe," Greg Cano, one of three Marinvest Energy Canada directors and the only one not based in Norway, told Le Devoir in an email. "We believe Quebec can play a key role in diversifying export options for Canadian natural gas, particularly at a time when relying solely on the U.S. market presents increasing challenges." That optimism runs counter to an analysis released just six weeks ago by Investors for Paris Compliance (IPC), which pointed to an expected 40% increase in global LNG production between 2024 and 2028 to argue that there's no business case for a new terminal in Quebec. European LNG demand was down 18% between 2022 and 2024, and the group said Canadian exporters would also have trouble competing in Asian markets, The Canadian Press reported at the time. View our latest digests "Investing in infrastructure that will be very expensive and likely won't be profitable will weaken our economy rather than strengthen it," economist and IPC senior advisor Renaud Gignac told the news agency. IPC warned that inflation could drive the cost of the $18-billion GNL-Quebec project above $33 billion, making it impossible to complete without taxpayer subsidies. "These are considerable investments that mobilize public capital and labour as well," Gignac said. "When you direct resources to this type of project, you make choices, and we believe there are options that could be more profitable in the long term, for both public and private investors." One of Marinvest's identified lobbying targets, Hydro-Quebec, has been going all-in on those other options, with a planned $185-billion investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and new transmission over the next decade. Cano also tried to position LNG as "carbon-free" energy, even though methane is a climate super-pollutant with about 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over the crucial 20-year span when humanity will be scrambling to get climate change under control. The Legault rejected the notion that gas is carbon-free in its response to the GNL-Quebec bid, "emphasizing in particular that the project that was to be built in Saguenay risked 'disadvantaging the energy transition' in the countries that would purchase this liquefied natural gas," Le Devoir says. A provincial spokesperson told the paper it was too soon to say whether the project would be eligible for subsidies, and the office of Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson wouldn't say whether it would qualify as one of the "nation-building" projects the Carney government is looking for. But "the current context is disrupting several aspects of our economy," a spokesperson for provincial Economy and Energy Minister Christine Frechette told Le Devoir in a statement. "We have always said that if new projects are presented, we are ready to examine them carefully. That is what we will do with this one." The spokesperson added that "social acceptability remains an essential condition for any project, and there will have to be benefits for Quebec." In a release, Greenpeace Canada urged the Carney government to exclude the Marinvest proposal from its list of nation-building projects, while calling on Quebec to "close the door on new fossil fuel transportation and export projects so that it can focus on renewable energy." "We should be building offshore wind farms, not floating fossil fuel plants", said Greenpeace Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart. "There is no way that a fossil fuel project with so little consultation and such a weak business case should be on Mark Carney's list of projects that can bypass environmental laws." Marinvest has hired two lobbyists to carry its message to the provincial government, Le Devoir reports, and two in Ottawa, Greenpeace says. Source: The Energy Mix