Save the date for our 62nd annual Conference and Expo. "use strict"; Aquino, 48, was arrested and charged on Sept. 23, York Regional Police (YRP) Staff Sgt. .archive .widget_archive .current a, } ICARE Gala Co-Chairs, John Aquino, Bondfield Construction Company Ltd. (left) and Sam Ciccolini, SJC Investments Inc. (right) join Connie Dejak, President & CEO at the 2013 gala. .sf-menu > .current-menu-item > a:after, htmlTag.className += ' ie11'; The only problem that September day was that Bondfields go-to IT official, Benny Weinstock, was off for Rosh Hashanah and was prohibited, religiously, from working until the two-day celebration ended at sundown. If they take a large loss funding construction, that is the risk of doing this type of business. "@type": "WebPage", CLEARWAY HAULAGE, MMC GENERAL . John Bondfield to the Commissioners. As well, the Globe and Mail reports that on June 12, 2018, John Aquino threatened to kill an employee who was doing work on his home. As well, on Oct. 12, 2018, three days before he was fired, John Aquino threatened to kill an adult male regarding e-mails that he didnt like, the Globe and Mail wrote, referencing police sources. .tdm_block_pricing.tdm-pricing-featured:before, That was a conflict of interest neither man disclosed. .sf-menu > li:hover > a:after, The paper, which has been following developments with the major Vaughan, Ont.-based contractor closely, noted none of the allegations have been proven in court. v. Ernst & Young Inc., in its capacity as Court-Appointed Monitor of Bondfield Construction Company Limited, et al ., 2022 ONCA 202 file opened 2022-06-03 (40166) Edmund Mark Hooper v. Suzanne Iwanow, (Qubec) file opened 2022-06-03 (40167) Hassan Bougrine v. tdLocalCache = { But behind the scenes, e-mails show, he continued to act as an aide to Mr. Aquino a whisperer who could help him navigate the politics of the hospital. a.vc_btn-black.vc_btn_square_outlined:hover, Infrastructure Ontario signs hang on the construction hoarding outside St. Michael's in 2018. 2. "@id": "https://www.ontarioconstructionnews.com/", googletag.defineSlot('/1003600/728x90ocnews', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1663612288383-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); Justice Dietrich ruled that $22-million must be paid back to the monitor for Bondfield. Mr. Georgiou has denied he swayed the procurement in Bondfields favour. The details of the mass deletion are contained in thousands of pages of court documents unsealed in March, at the request of The Globe, by Ontario Superior Court Justice Cory Gilmore. Mr. Aquino was Bondfield's CEO when it won the St. Michael's contract in 2015. As for St. Michaels, the hospital settled its wrongful dismissal lawsuit with Mr. Georgiou. Mr. Anastasio was an associate of John Aquino, Bondfield's then-CEO, who the monitor has also alleged took part in the scheme. That ruling has been appealed and a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal has yet to be released. Fax: 905-458-6020. Ontario Construction News staff writer } body .td_block_categories_tags .td-ct-item:hover, I am with Vas. I need you at office immediately, Mr. Aquino wrote to Mr. Weinstock at 1:05 p.m. At 3:41 p.m., someone logged into Bondfields e-mail archiver and searched for all messages containing the term Vas Georgiou. Next, similar searches for keywords that might capture e-mails written by Mr. Georgiou were executed. A pedestrian passes the St. Michael's Hospital emergency entrance this past fall. color: #38a6c1; this.found_posts = 0; //from wp A Roman Catholic religious order founded the hospital on Bond Street in the 1890s.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail. "@id": "https://www.ontarioconstructionnews.com/category/aroundprovince/", .header-search-wrap .td-drop-down-search:before { Whatever pressure Mr. Aquino was contemplating, nothing came of it. .tdm-btn-style3:hover { border-color: transparent transparent #38a6c1 transparent; Four months later, in July, Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino were again concerned about Mr. Mendonca jumping ship. Lawyers for Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou said it would be inappropriate for them to comment while the matter is before the courts. .wpb_default:hover, .td-search-close span:hover i { Mr. Dipede wrote that Mr. Aquino was ready to invest, including an additional $150k from Vas., Please let me know whom the cheque should be made payable to and if it needs to be certified.. When questioned by Zurichs lawyers, Mr. Georgiou insists he didnt invest. And with Mr. Georgiou in a position of influence, Bondfield had a clear edge. Ms. Divell, the Unity Health spokeswoman, declined to comment on the payments to Mr. Georgiou. .author-box-wrap .td-author-social a:hover, Follow Greg McArthur on Twitter: @McarthurGregOpens in a new windowFollow Karen Howlett on Twitter: @kahowlettOpens in a new window. Mr. Aquino was an owner of the company, and shortly after Mr. Georgious arrival at St. Michaels, the hospital installed two GP8 water vending machines. EllisDons design was considered non-compliant and it was disqualified. if ( -1 !== navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Safari') && -1 === navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Chrome') ) { During his examination, he was asked by Zurich lawyer Brian Kolenda: Sir, you had been fired from the hospital some 18 months prior to this. Zurich is suing Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou, as well as Unity Health Toronto, the hospital network that includes St. Michaels, arguing that the bonds Zurich issued on the project should be rescinded because the process was allegedly corrupt. Mr. Aquino also wanted to know if his name showed up in any public records connected with a commercial building in Toronto. .td_block_template_9 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, input[type=submit]:hover, The firm was required to conduct a review of its own records when the court-appointed monitor for Bondfield which sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 obtained a judges order requiring anyone with evidence of the deletions to preserve those documents. "@type": "WebPage", var tdDateNamesI18n={"month_names":["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"month_names_short":["Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"],"day_names":["Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday"],"day_names_short":["Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"]}; Mark Buckshon, Publisher, Ontario Construction News. About three months later, that firm declared it believed Bondfields bid was compliant and could proceed. More recently, Bondfield was working on several smaller Sunnybrook projects, including renovations to the dialysis unit, before the companys 2019 collapse. .header-search-wrap .td-drop-down-search:after, While most publishers achieve their role through a sales/business development career, Mark developed his business skills after succeeding as a journalist, and he continues to enjoy actively writing, editing and contributing to the publication. .header-search-wrap .td-drop-down-search .btn:hover, Bondfield, now insolvent, grew rapidly in the middle of the last decade. Bondfield, a mid-sized, family-owned construction company, was making a push to join the ranks of Ontarios biggest players in public infrastructure. .td_block_template_12 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, The Globe and Mail reported last week that arrest followed an investigation by YRP detectives of several complaints from current and former staff of Bondfield in Vaughan. .wpb_default, Mr. Aquino said Mr. Georgiou didnt do anything to earn the remaining $450,000, and he had no explanation for the spreadsheet that indicated he owed Mr. Georgiou $500,000. .td_block_template_9 .td-block-title:after, } .td-mobile-content .current-menu-ancestor > a, } Steven Aquino replied that, yes, his brother told him he had paid Mr. Marafioti in connection with Bondfield's work at Sunnybrook. E-mails recovered by Zurich show Mr. Aquino took comfort that Mr. Georgiou was in place for the RFQ. The new leak was announced Jan. 9, seven Ontario Construction News staff writer Despite being terminated with cause the result of which was supposed to be the full termination of all of his compensation Mr. Georgiou received his full salary for another 18 months. } They also sometimes obtain a courts permission to execute civil search warrants on residences and businesses what is known as an Anton Piller order. #td-mobile-nav .td-menu-socials-wrap a:hover i, #bbpress-forums button:hover, But when a team of evaluators first scored the bidders, they put Bondfield in fourth place a ranking that, if allowed to stand, would eliminate the company from the race. John Aquino is a Manager, Network at KPMG based in London, Greater London. .td_block_template_5 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, EllisDon celebrates a major milestone with the grand opening of the Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre at Michael Ontario Construction News staff writer On March 14, 2016, Mr. Aquino sought an audience with the leadership of the hospital, and was coached by Mr. Georgiou on his approach. 32 followers 30 connections. var td_pass_empty="Pass empty! var tdBlockNonce="0e942a88e7"; } .td-theme-wrap .sf-menu ul .sfHover > a, .td-search-background:before { Zurich determined that the two men communicated secretly throughout the hospital bidding process. He has brought few Letters, he mentions the entire Capture of the fourth regiment who upon the expedition of Col. Maitland pushing into the Country their retreat was cut off and obliged to lay down their Arms officers and Soldiers not one escaping.1 He gives also accounts of the Arrival of several . #bbpress-forums .bbp-pagination .current, Needs to be unanimous. Mr. Aquino had provided Mr. Georgiou with a secret BlackBerry and even his own bondfield.com e-mail address, which they used to pass messages. .td_block_template_10 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, } Michael Keen, who is now vice-president of facilities at St. Michaels, but at the time was one of the evaluators, was also questioned by Zurichs lawyers. "; John Aquino was the directing mind of Bondfield Construction Company Limited (BCCL), a construction company that operated in and around Toronto, as well as its affiliate, Forma-Con Construction (CC), which performed concrete forming. var td_get_template_directory_uri="https:\/\/www.ontarioconstructionnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/td-composer\/legacy\/common"; 3. As Vice President of Project Development, Alessandra is involved in the earliest stages of projects, from preliminary costing to planning of the construction efforts. reported that the Bondfield Group had a cash flow concern. var tdc_is_installed="yes"; a, The shipper promised his family a castle in the mid-1800s, and he was determined to follow through. (Because the hospital had added scope to the project as the bidding process progressed, it had taken the unusual step of letting bidders know its target price was about $301-million.) } He sued The Globe as well, but never proceeded past filing a statement of claim. Bondfield also launched a public relations campaign with clients, suppliers and subcontractors to assure them nothing improper had taken place with the St. Michaels procurement. In the middle of all of this, after a 10-month investigation, a special committee of Infrastructure Ontarios board issued the results of its investigation into Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino. Ralph Aquino CHAIRMAN Ralph brings more than 60 years of construction experience to this Chairman role at Corebuild. remove: function (resource_id) { htmlTag.className += ' ie10'; .widgettitle:after, Bondfield, represented by the team at Osler, filed a notice of libel and later launched a $125-million defamation lawsuit against The Globe, its publisher and three Globe reporters. Now, a recently established investigative agency of police officers and prosecutors, Ontarios Serious Fraud Office, has launched a sweeping probe into Mr. Aquino, Mr. Georgiou and the procurement. } Manipulated invoices for the renovation and improvement of Ralph Aquino's G, residence approved by Steven Aquino and Ralph Aquino and paid for by Bondfield Construction Company Limited Photo of Steven Aquino, John Aquino, and Joe Anastasio, amongst others, at the H World of Concrete Exposition in January 2017 So much of what Runnymede Healthcare Centre does would simply not be possible without the helping hands and open hearts of the hospital's generous donors. Mr. Toigos opposition had serious implications. .td-mobile-content .current-category-ancestor > a, Your email address will not be published. border-color: #38a6c1 transparent transparent transparent !important; Pressed to explain this by Zurichs lawyers, Mr. Georgiou said Infrastructure Ontario had introduced new criteria that placed more emphasis on local experience, and the evaluators had not properly considered this in their initial scoring. The notes say he discussed with Mr. MacNaughton whether he should proactively get out in front of the issues Globe reporters were probing, or wait until after the newspaper published an article. Resides in Burbank, CA. .vc_tta-container .vc_tta-color-grey.vc_tta-tabs-position-top.vc_tta-style-classic .vc_tta-tabs-container .vc_tta-tab.vc_active > a, #bbpress-forums .bbp-forums-list li a:hover, function tdBlock() { He said all four members of Mr. Georgious committee directed his team to rescore the bidders. He and other Corebuild employees have not been accused of wrong-doing, and he and his colleagues have co-operated with police and financial investigations into the former Bondfield operations. Several sources with knowledge of Mr. Georgious interventions at the RFQ and RFP stages interventions that benefited Bondfield who spoke with The Globe said they were simply never approached by the investigators. googletag.enableServices(); In March, Justice Bernadette Dietrich ruled that many of those payments, but not all, were transfers under value which means they were made for the purpose of defrauding or evading creditors. #bbpress-forums .bbp-pagination .current, Using the word we loosely did not infer that I was on his team and I wanted him to win and not the others, he said. } body .td-trending-now-title, .td-block-title-wrap .td-wrapper-pulldown-filter .td-pulldown-filter-display-option:hover, The multinational insurer alleges Mr. Georgiou received kickbacks, including free home renovations, and secretly obtained shares, worth at least $500,000, in companies owned by Mr. Aquino. Ukraine Interior Minister Killed In Helicopter Crash, Greta v. Polizei, Worlds Oldest Person Dies, Didi reopens to new users after $1.2-B fine, Jordan, Latvia and Israel shake up diplomatic corps after Shadow Diplomats investigation ICIJ. .td-post-small-box a:hover, } gtag('js', new Date()); .td-block-title-wrap .td-wrapper-pulldown-filter .td-pulldown-filter-display-option:hover i, set: function (resource_id, cachedData) { A bousta, or busta, is an Italian slang term often used to describe cash in an envelope. John received a BS degree from University of Chicago and a MBA from University of . function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} } .td-block-title-wrap .td-wrapper-pulldown-filter .td-pulldown-filter-item .td-cur-simple-item, This included landscaping his yard, demolishing his driveway, carpentry inside his residence and working on his gazebo. .td-theme-slider:hover .slide-meta-cat a, .td-pulldown-syle-3 .td-subcat-dropdown:hover .td-subcat-more i, { We are yet without any Arrivals from any part of America, from Carolina as an embargo is in force for the exporting of Rice,1 it is not extraordinary, but from all the other Provinces some Vessels may be expected as there are . In an e-mailed statement to The Globe and Mail he said he could not provide a detailed comment while the matter was under investigation. Once installed at Bondfields headquarters north of Toronto, Zurich found evidence that Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou had been improperly exchanging information throughout the St. Michaels bidding process. The unsealed records show that Mr. Aquino was getting support from another close contact: Mr. Georgiou. John Aquino was born on 20 April 1948 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Five companies were vying for the contract: PCL, EllisDon, Bondfield, Turner Construction and Brookfield Multiplex. JOHN AQUINO, MARCO CARUSO, GIUSEPPE ANASTASIO a.k.a. Over the years, Bondfield has been awarded a number of contracts at Sunnybrook, which the hospital estimates were worth a total of $129-million. .td_round_btn, Six days before The Globe published its first story, word was out that reporters were beginning to ask questions about Mr. Aquinos ties to Mr. Georgiou. He has not been charged with a criminal offence, and he did not respond to a request for comment. background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(0,0,0,0.8) 0%, rgba(0,0,0,0.7) 100%); .td-theme-wrap .sf-menu ul .current-menu-ancestor > a, You have entered an incorrect email address! .tds-button6:after, Prosecutors filed detention orders against the accused in Rome and in Reggio Calabria, the capital of the southern Italian region where the 'Ndrangheta, the proper name of the Mafia there, was. .td_block_template_17 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, return tdLocalCache.data.hasOwnProperty(resource_id) && tdLocalCache.data[resource_id] !== null; This backchannel was in contravention of numerous procurement rules, and if anyone discovered the e-mails, it would mean trouble for both men. var td_please_wait="Please wait"; It must be recognized that neither the legal nor forensic accounting teams had the power to compel documents and testimony from unwilling parties.. 235. Zurich argues that the alleged collusion should nullify any obligation it has to pay for the completion of the project. .tds-button2 i, At all times, Osler acted professionally and ethically in advancing its clients interests in this litigation, Ms. Stein-Korte said. .tds-button6 i, .td-header-wrap .black-menu .sf-menu > .current-category-ancestor > a, tdLocalCache.data[resource_id] = cachedData;