A Quebec man wanted for more than two years in connection with investigations into the massive Desjardins data breach has been arrested in Mexico, provincial police said Thursday.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) said Maxime Paquette was taken into custody by Mexican authorities in Cancun after being sought since June 2024.
Police said Paquette, 40, had been listed among Quebec’s most wanted fugitives.
Paquette will remain detained in Mexico while extradition proceedings are launched to return him to Canada, where he faces several charges. The charges include fraud over $5,000, identity theft and trafficking in identity information.
The investigation was led by the SQ’s criminal investigations division as part of the Portier and Project D investigations. The Portier and Project D investigations stem from the theft and circulation of personal information obtained during the Desjardins data breach, one of the largest privacy breaches in Canadian history.
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The breach exposed the personal information of nearly 10 million Desjardins members and clients between 2017 and 2019.
The SQ credited Mexican authorities and several Canadian and international partners for their role in the arrest, including Interpol, the RCMP, the Quebec City police service, Mexico’s Criminal Investigation Agency, the Mexican Navy and authorities in Cancun.
