![]() | Robert Vanier was sentenced to three years behind bars on two counts of perjury for lying on sworn documents about the value of his failing company, Onco Petroleum. It is a steep fall for Vanier, a man who stole some $30 million from investors in Ontario, Quebec and the US. What they didn’t know was he was born Carl Gagnon, a Quebecer that had racked up more than 60 criminal convictions before becoming a police informant against the Hells Angels. After testifying against the Hells Angels, he was placed in the witness-protection program with a new identity. | ![]() |
![]() | Over two decades beginning in the early 1980s, Gagnon amassed criminal convictions across Quebec. Those convictions included numerous convictions for fraud. In 1999 he became involved in a car-theft operation with 3 members of the Hells Angels. The bikers, including Robert Savard, right-hand man of Maurice (Mom) Boucher – were said to have beaten him and forced him to commit a robbery to recover money that was owed.
He decided to testify against them and obtained police protection. As an informant, he provided many statements related to various crimes, but when defence lawyers asked to see all of them to test Gagnon’s credibility, the charges were dropped in November 1999. | ![]() |