Former Quebec Minister for Families Tony Tomassi has been arrested for allegedly trying to solicit services from a sex worker that was in fact an undercover Montreal police officer.
Tomassi was among six alleged clients that were arrested at an Ahuntsic motel Friday night. He will appear in court February 1st on charges of solicitation of sexual services.
Police will confirm the arrest but not the identities of those arrested.
Tomassi was elected to the National Assembly in 2003 as a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec.
He was named Minister for Families, responsible for policy and programs such as daycare services in the province, under Jean Charest in 2008.
He lost his cabinet post and was kicked out of the Liberal caucus in 2010, after admitting to refueling his car using a credit card from the now-defunct private security firm Canadian Bureau of Investigations and Adjustment.
The company received millions of dollars from the province before going bankrupt.
Tomassi was charged with government fraud and breach of trust and resigned as an MNA in 2012.
He pleaded guilty in 2014.
His name also came up during the Charbonneau Commission as it probed political corruption. The former chief of staff for then-environment minister Line Beauchamp, François Crête, testified in 2013 that Tomassi had been lobbying the Beauchamp's ministry on behalf of a company with ties to organized crime and the Rizzuto clan.