Montreal police are investigating after a mansion under construction owned by Feras Antoon, co-owner of pornography website Pornhub, burned to the ground Sunday night.
Const. Julien Levesque says police were called to the fire around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, adding that two people were seen breaking in to the construction site in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough.
Police say they believe the fire was criminally set and no arrests have been made.
Fire chief Daniel Girard says the fire spread rapidly and more than 80 firefighters spent much of the night battling the flames.
He says firefighters were still on the scene Monday morning and that three neighbouring residences were evacuated as a precaution. One nearby home was damaged by the blaze.
Antoon, CEO of MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, is listed on Montreal's tax roll as one of the property's owners. The mansion is listed for sale on real estate website Centris for $19.8 million.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2021.
The Canadian Press
