Police arrest suspect after home of Pornhub owner burned down in 2021

A three-alarm fire seriously damaged a home under construction on the evening of April 25, 2021. The home is owned by MindGeek co-founder Feras Antoon and Montreal police suspect it was arson. (Christine Long/CTV Montreal)

Montreal police have arrested a suspect after the mansion belonging to the co-founder of Pornub’s parent company burned down four years ago.

The home, in the city’s Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, was listed for sale for $19 million and was under construction when police allege it was set on fire in the late hours of April 25, 2021. The eight-bedroom luxury home at the intersection of Jean-Bourdon and Antoine-Berthelet Avenues was owned by Feras Antoon, the co-founder and former CEO of MindGeek, which operates Pornhub and several other porn sites.

Police announced Tuesday that after a lengthy investigation by the arson unit, investigators arrested a 39-year-old suspect who was already being held at Montreal’s Bordeaux jail awaiting trial for attempted murder in an unrelated case.

Claudy Lafond, a Montreal resident, was charged with arson, possession of incendiary material, and breaking and entering.

Court records show he is also charged with arson in relation to another fire at Restaurant Chez Chantal in Saint-Calixte, Que., on April 18, 2021.

He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday to face charges in the 2021 arson, which is said to have caused several million dollars in damages.

The investigation is still ongoing, and “additional arrests in connection with this incident are possible,” police said. Police were called to the home at around 11:30 p.m. after receiving a report of two people breaking into it.

In 2022, Antoon resigned from MindGeek, which rebranded as Aylo in August 2023. The headquarters for the company remains in Montreal.