Prosecutors
drop two charges
of bribery
in advance
of St. Michael’s
Hospitaltrial
Prosecutors drop two charges of bribery in advance of St. Michael’s Hospital
trial
Karen Howlett
Published 30 minutes ago
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Vas Georgiou, top, and John Aquino, bottom. The Globe and Mail
The criminal trial of two men at the centre of corruption allegations stemming
from the $300-million redevelopment of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital begins
this week, but with fewer charges than originally laid by police.
Vas Georgiou, the former chief administrative officer at St. Michael’s, and
John Aquino, the former president of Bondfield Construction Co. Ltd., are
scheduled to appear before an Ontario court judge in Toronto on Monday.
Both men are pleading not guilty to charges of fraud, which stem from
allegations that they improperly communicated throughout the bidding process
for the hospital contract, which Bondfield won in 2015.
They were each charged in March, 2023, with two counts of fraud over $5,000,
as well as one count of bribery, which is known in the federal Criminal Code
as paying or accepting secret commissions. Earlier this year, prosecutors
dropped the secret commission charges, acknowledging in court that they could
not meet the “high bar” of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Peter Brauti, Mr. Georgiou’s lawyer, said in an e-mail• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта » Адрес электронной почты that no evidence will
be heard on Monday and that the matter is expected to be adjourned to Friday.
He said his client “denies the allegations, but will not comment further while
the matter is before the courts.”
Alan Gold, a criminal lawyer representing Mr. Aquino, did not respond to a
request for comment.
The indictment against the two men followed a four-year probe by Ontario’s
Serious Fraud Office – a group of police officers and prosecutors launched in
2018 to investigate alleged financial crime.
The case dates back to 2015, when Bondfield, a once prominent Ontario
construction company, was selected as the winning bidder to redevelop St.
Michael’s, one of Canada’s premier health care facilities. A series of Globe
and Mail stories published in 2015 and 2016 revealed that while Mr. Georgiou
was working as one of the evaluators on Bondfield’s bid for the $300-million
project he was personally involved in two businesses owned by Mr. Aquino.
After launching an internal investigation, the hospital fired Mr. Georgiou in
2015, alleging his business• Экономика » Бизнес ties with Mr. Aquino weren’t disclosed.
Since then, the project has fallen into disarray and is years behind schedule.
Bondfield sought bankruptcy protection in 2019, leaving the company’s
multinational insurer• Страхование » Страховщик, Zurich Insurance• Страхование » Страховые компании » Страховые компании Швейцарии » Группа Zurich
• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на Zu » Группа Zurich Co. Ltd., to assess claims from
Bondfield’s unpaid subcontractors. Zurich• Швейцария » Кантоны Швейцарии » Цюрих (кантон) » Города Цюриха » Цюрих
• Объект бренды » Бренды на z » Zurich had provided more than $1-billion in
guarantees – known as construction surety bonds – on Bondfield’s projects,
including St. Michael’s. The Surety Association of Canada has said the losses
from Bondfield’s collapse are the most severe in the association’s recorded
history.
Once installed at Bondfield’s headquarters, Zurich• Швейцария » Кантоны Швейцарии » Цюрих (кантон) » Города Цюриха » Цюрих
• Объект бренды » Бренды на z » Zurich alleges it unearthed
evidence that Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou communicated with each other about
the bid during the procurement process. Zurich• Швейцария » Кантоны Швейцарии » Цюрих (кантон) » Города Цюриха » Цюрих
• Объект бренды » Бренды на z » Zurich’s investigation found that Mr.
Georgiou was given his own bondfield.com email address• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта » Адрес электронной почты,
bccldevelopment@bondfield.com, and the insurer• Страхование » Страховщик alleges Mr. Aquino supplied Mr.
Georgiou with a secret BlackBerry.
Zurich• Швейцария » Кантоны Швейцарии » Цюрих (кантон) » Города Цюриха » Цюрих
• Объект бренды » Бренды на z » Zurich sued both men, as well the hospital, alleging Mr. Georgiou used the
BlackBerry to leak confidential information about the procurement to Mr.
Aquino.
The insurer• Страхование » Страховщик’s investigation also revealed that in September, 2015, Mr. Aquino
asked Bondfield’s IT staff to permanently wipe all references to Mr. Georgiou
from the company’s e-mail• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта » Адрес электронной почты server. An estimated 5,000 e-mails were destroyed
just days before The Globe published its first story about the business ties
between Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino.
The lawsuit launched by Zurich• Швейцария » Кантоны Швейцарии » Цюрих (кантон) » Города Цюриха » Цюрих
• Объект бренды » Бренды на z » Zurich also alleges that Bondfield staff performed
hours of work at Mr. Georgiou’s house in North Toronto. This allegedly
included landscaping his yard, demolishing his driveway, carpentry inside his
residence and work on his gazebo.
When the insurer• Страхование » Страховщик’s lawyers examined Mr. Georgiou in 2020 about the home
renovations, he declined to answer most questions – with one exception. Asked
about a 2013 e-mail• Коммуникации » Интернет-коммуникации » Электронная почта » Адрес электронной почты from Mr. Aquino, which showed Bondfield replaced eight
dead trees on Mr. Georgiou’s property, Mr. Georgiou replied, “I paid for those
trees,” according to transcripts filed in court. He explained that he paid Mr.
Aquino in cash and sports tickets.
When police charged the men in 2023, Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino each faced
one count of paying or accepting secret commissions, as well as the fraud
charges. At the request of prosecutors, however, Ontario Superior Justice
Peter Bawden agreed to withdraw the bribery charges during a brief hearing on
Feb. 26.
“The Crown has been of the view that we cannot meet the high bar of proof
beyond a reasonable doubt on the secret commissions,” said Crown counsel Ellen
Weis, according to a transcript of the hearing.
The fallout from Bondfield’s collapse has left the hospital redevelopment
project seven years behind schedule.
The entire project, which includes a new 17-storey patient care tower, as well
as an expanded emergency department and a fully renovated intensive-care unit,
was initially set for completion in 2019. The renovations are now “anticipated
to be complete in 2026,” said Sabrina Divell, a spokesperson for Unity Health
Toronto, the hospital network that includes St. Michael’s.
Ms. Divell said the hospital has fully co-operated with the investigation by
the Serious Fraud Office.
Special to The Globe and Mail
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