Statement BY MR. Alfonso Graceffa

MONTREAL, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - In response to journalist requests following the judgment rendered on November 15, 2023, in his case against the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (the "Caisse"), Mr. Alfonso Graceffa wishes to highlight that the media allegations in 2019 implying he received preferential treatment for several mortgage loans were inaccurate.

MCAP, a subsidiary of the Caisse, granted him a total of 11 loans, 8 in 2010 and 3 in 2017. These loans were made in accordance with the same underwriting standards applicable to all borrowers, and without giving him any preferential treatment. The loans, which Mr. Graceffa always disclosed to the Caisse, were investment grade mortgages guaranteed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and therefore posed no risk to the Caisse.

Mr. Graceffa specifically chose to make borrowing arrangements with MCAP so that the Caisse's subsidiary would benefit from such high quality loans, rather than giving the business to a competing financial institution. Indeed, MCAP declined repayment of the loans in 2019; and even renewed 8 of them in 2020 despite the fact he was no longer employed with Otéra and Ivanhoé Cambridge.

As for the $15,000 payment, Mr. Graceffa stresses that it was due pursuant to an agreement between his brother and an individual, the whole in accordance with a Court of Quebec judgment. Mr. Graceffa, who was acting in his capacity as power of attorney for his brother, did not know the payment would be made in cash, and provided a receipt for said payment. Mr. Graceffa ended collection proceedings on behalf of his brother as soon as he learned the individual had a criminal record, a fact of which he had previously been unaware.

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SOURCE Alfonso Graceffa