Biker pals want victim cash

Two businessmen who have been linked to the Hells Angels are fighting to have the province pay for injuries they suffered when the rival Rock Machine bombed their table at the Harley Resto-Bar in Boisbriand on February 12, 1995. One is Mario Leporé, 48, a former biker bookkeeper and partner in a duct-cleaning company with Maurice “Mom” Boucher. Leporé was convicted of fraud of over $1-million in 1994 while managing a Caisse Populaire in Saint-Placide, near Oka. The other injury claimant is real estate dealer Richard Turcot, 42, who was linked with the gang after co-owning the Lavigeur mansion on an island near Laval along with Hells Angels bigwig Scott Steinart.

Although their injuries have not been disclosed, the Rock Machine’s remote-activated bomb is believed to have cost Leporé a leg and fractured Turcot’s skull. The Victims of Crime Indemnity Fund (IVAC) initially denied their request, according to rep Daniel Legault, because, “We can refuse a demand when an individual contributed to, or was at fault for, the damage they suffered. We won’t indemnify those involved in illegal activities, gross negligence or having provoked an event that leads to their own injury or death.”
The Administrative Tribunal of Quebec overturned IVAC’s refusal last December. IVAC, which funds up to 90 per cent of an individual’s salary, plans to appeal. :

—Kristian Gravenor