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Quebec provincial police have confirmed the arrest by Mexican authorities of Maxime Paquette, who has been wanted since June 2024 in connection with the investigation into the massive Desjardins data breach.
The 40-year-old fugitive, one of Quebec’s most wanted, was in Cancun, Mexico, at the time of his arrest, according to a statement from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
SQ reports that Paquette will remain in custody in Mexico while extradition proceedings are initiated to Canada, where he will face several criminal code charges, including:
- Fraud over $5,000.
- Identity theft.
- Illegal trafficking of identifying information.
According to the SQ’s Quebec Most Wanted Fugitives website, Paquette carried out various schemes to defraud Desjardins members and clients from “illegally obtained lists.”
“Between June 27, 2021 and June 30, 2021, he was in possession of identifying information associated with Desjardins customers that resulted from a massive data breach at Desjardins in 2019,” the site states.
“He also sold identifying information from the stolen Desjardins lists to multiple individuals and on the dark web.”
The June 2019 Desjardins data breach affected approximately 9.7 million Canadians.
The leaked information included names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers (SIN), email addresses and information about transaction habits.
The SQ says it cooperated with Mexican authorities, Quebec prosecutors, Interpol and other national and international partners in connection with this arrest.