That was not the only e-mail in which Mr. Georgiou used the word we to describe Bondfield. On March 10, Mr. Aquino reached out to Mr. Georgiou when he heard from a Bondfield staffer that Mr. Mendonca was considering quitting: Talk to Smooth. .td-subfooter-menu li a:hover, #bbpress-forums .bbp-body .super-sticky li.bbp-topic-title .bbp-topic-permalink, Suppliers, upset about payment issues, stopped delivering products. A spreadsheet of all of Mr. Aquinos assets, found on Bondfields servers, included a notation next to the company that owned the buildings: Owe Vas $500,000., Under questioning by Zurichs lawyers, Mr. Aquino said he had gifted about $50,000 worth of shares in the company to Mr. Georgiou in 2012, before he was hired by St. Michaels. Zurich argues that the alleged collusion should nullify any obligation it has to pay for the completion of the project. a, The Bondfield statement prompted at least one supporter to reach out and offer whatever assistance he could. The Globe and Mail reported that the complainants include two Bondfield officials who allege Aquino threatened to kill them in the months before he was fired in 2018, and one employee who alleged Aquino returned to a Bondfield storage facility in April of this year and assaulted him with a weapon. VICE-PRESIDENT & SECRETARY Learn More David Petrie VP OPERATIONS Learn More Kevin Hicks, CPA, CMA CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Learn More Ajith Lokuge, B.Sc. Corebuild Construction LTD. Executive Team Members Steven Aquino, B.A.Sc. It is obviously something we are deeply concerned about and the hospital will be conducting an investigation of the situation and will be engaging external counsel to assist with the review.. if ( /chrom(e|ium)/.test(navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase()) ) { 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. They own the globe and maybe we can get story crushed.. } The company also recently redeveloped the offices of the Sunnybrook Foundation, which is not taxpayer funded. (1979). googletag.cmd.push(function() { .header-search-wrap .td-drop-down-search .btn: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. Steven Aquino replied that, yes, his brother told him he had paid Mr. Marafioti in connection with Bondfield's work at Sunnybrook. .td-footer-wrapper .widget_product_search input[type="submit"]:hover, 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. The answer was yes. } This litigation is about corruption in a publicly funded procurement process.. On Oct. 15, 2018, Mr. Aquino was fired by his younger brother, Steven Aquino, who had supplanted him as CEO in the months leading up to his termination., Ontario contractors massive surety default largest in Canadian history says broker. window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; Bondfields statement of claim alleged The Globe article had the clear inference that the contract was awarded because of corruption. Two days later, they returned with new scores, and this time Bondfield had moved into third place, replacing Turner Construction, which had been knocked down to fourth. .tds-button6 i, Mr. Mendonca, who also came to the hospital from Infrastructure Ontario, was to report to Mr. Georgiou and help oversee the project. Contact us: insights@ontarioconstructionnews.com, 2023 26750547 Ontario Ltd., Ontario Construction News, 1554 Carling Ave. Suite 57, Ottawa, ON K1Z 7M4 (888) 627-8717 ext 114. .td-post-small-box a:hover, Whatever pressure Mr. Aquino was contemplating, nothing came of it. Bondfield faced more than 200 lawsuits from unpaid creditors and subcontractors, and work on the companys projects across Ontario ground to a halt. For its part, Bondfield produced 56 records. But the issues with him were much more extensive than $65,000 in false invoices. The Surety Association of Canada has called it the largest construction collapse in the countrys history. if( -1 !== navigator.userAgent.indexOf('IEMobile') ){ .td_block_template_2 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, Your time is valuable. var tdBlockNonce="0e942a88e7"; exist: function (resource_id) { Bondfield collapsed in 2019, fired Mr. Aquino as CEO and sought court protection from creditors. More than $1-billion worth of Bondfields projects were guaranteed by Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd., including the St. Michaels project, through construction surety bonds. The top two floors remain under construction, Ms. Divell said. .td-block-title-wrap .td-wrapper-pulldown-filter .td-pulldown-filter-item .td-cur-simple-item, In its summary of key findings, the special committee declared that the procurement was not compromised. .td_block_template_17 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, The unsealed documents were filed by Zurich Insurance Co. Ltd., which issued surety bonds on the project. Andy Pattenden confirmed in an email to Ontario Construction News (OCN) on Monday. htmlTag.className += ' td-md-is-safari'; } "They asked him if John Aquino had ever told him about any payments he had made to anyone involved in projects Bondfield was bidding on or had secured. Infrastructure Ontarios rules required the steering committee to be unanimous and his concerns meant the procurement could fail. } .td_quote_on_blocks, "name": "York Regional Police charge former Bondfield CEO John Aquino with assault, uttering" Mr. Georgiou had a heated argument with Mr. Toigo, which one witness described as a raised voice discussion.. var tds_logo_on_sticky=""; } After Bondfields collapse, Zurich launched an investigation and discovered that John Aquino had issued a BlackBerry to Vas Georgiou, the then-chief administrative officer of St. Michaels. Sign up today. But instead of accepting the scores, the steering committee sent the evaluators back to re-evaluate. Save the date for our 62nd annual Conference and Expo. .td-404-sub-sub-title a:hover, .header-search-wrap .td-drop-down-search:before { But on Sept. 15, 2015, he was up against an ancient. .tds-title3 .tdm-title-line:after, Sirs. In his examination for discovery, Mr. Aquino refused, on the advice of his lawyers, to answer questions about his direction to record the costs to the GO parking garage. > var tdc_is_installed="yes"; Police allege that was assault with a weapon. Toigo voted against Bondfield design, Mr. Aquino wrote. They were so close, in fact, that in many e-mails Mr. Georgiou referred to Mr. Mendonca by a nickname: Smooth.. Bordeaux 3 Octr 1778. Despite his unceremonious exit, Mr. Georgiou acted as a sort of liaison between Mr. Aquino and Mr. Mendonca. Pressed by Zurichs lawyers, though, Mr. Georgiou said thats not at all what Mr. Aquino meant. 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 john-aquino-owner-bondfield-construction-company-ltd-and-co-founder-co-chair-of-the-icare-gala-with-wife-cinzia Johnson Ta 2015-07-08. Mr. Georgiou was never charged criminally, but York sued him to recover the funds a suit that was settled out of court. background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(0,0,0,0.8) 0%, rgba(0,0,0,0.7) 100%); .wpb_tabs li:hover a, See You Next Year. As for St. Michaels, the hospital settled its wrongful dismissal lawsuit with Mr. Georgiou. 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. .tds-social3 .tdm-social-item { Alessandra Aquino, B. ENG, MBA, Vice President of Project Development. For his part, Mr. Georgiou denied, in his examination, having any interest whatsoever in the buildings. It was granted creditor protection last spring. Infrastructure Ontario launched an investigation of his dealings with Vas Georgiou. If you would like to receive this service, just complete the information below. background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, rgba(0,0,0,0.8) 0%, rgba(0,0,0,0.7) 100%); htmlTag.className += ' td-md-is-ios'; He has led construction companies in multiple fields, including masonry, formwork and excavation. .td_block_template_8 .td-related-title .td-cur-simple-item, The terms of the settlement are confidential, but the evidence unearthed by Zurich contains a hint about what Mr. Georgiou received. .td-header-wrap .black-menu .sf-menu > .current-menu-ancestor > a, And it issued him a stern warning: He was forbidden from using confidential information he had obtained during the procurement and from providing services to any company working on the hospital. .sf-menu > .current-menu-ancestor > a:after, As for the project itself, St. Michaels has opened six floors of the new tower for patient care, as well as a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. Sign up today. He also co-chaired, with John Aquino, an annual fundraising gala for Runnymede Health Centre, a small hospital in Torontos west end that was redeveloped by Bondfield in 2007. Globe stories in 2015 and 2016 about Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino detailed how they were involved in multiple businesses together, including a commercial real estate company and a bottled water venture, when Mr. Georgiou was supposed to be acting as a neutral evaluator of bidders. Mr. Aquino was a part owner of the company that owned the building and, during the same period of time Mr. Georgiou was evaluating bidders interested in redeveloping the hospital, Mr. Georgiou had been co-ordinating construction work at the building. .tds-progress-bar2 .tdm-progress-bar:after, this.block_type = 1; //block type id (1-234 etc) More recently, Bondfield was working on several smaller Sunnybrook projects, including renovations to the dialysis unit, before the companys 2019 collapse. .logged-in-as a:hover, Now, St. Michaels just needed someone to manage the project. John Aquino, an unregistered lobbyist, breached 140-10 and 140-41A by sending a letter on behalf of Bondfield Construction Company Limited ("Bondfield") about the Tender to a City staff lawyer on September 30, 2013, when these communications were not permitted by the City's procurement policies and the procurement document. .tdm-btn-style2:before { Her extensive experience as a . .tds-button2 i, -moz-box-shadow: 0 2px 16px #38a6c1; Throughout the RFQ stage of the procurement the phase that Bondfield barely survived, if not for the rescoring of the submissions Mr. Georgiou was co-ordinating with Bondfield, readying two buildings, owned in part by Mr. Aquino, for new commercial tenants. div.wpforms-container .wpforms-form div.wpforms-submit-container button[type=submit], this.td_user_action = ''; // load more or infinite loader (used by the animation) .td-search-query, In a statement to The Globe this week, a spokesperson for Osler said the firm had no knowledge of the e-mail deletions. border-color: #38a6c1; border-color: #38a6c1; .td-instagram-user a, But the court documents also offer a rare peek into another aspect of the Bondfield scandal: the many steps taken by Mr. Aquino to suppress the truth, destroy evidence and kill a story that threatened to derail a company. Osler operates a Risk Management and Crisis Response team, and Bondfield retained one of its team members, Kevin OBrien. "@type": "ListItem", .tdm_block_pricing .tdm-pricing-feature i, Mr. Aquino had also provided Mr. Georgiou with his own bondfield.com e-mail address. "; .tdm_block_pricing.tdm-pricing-featured:before, a.vc_btn-black.vc_btn_outlined:hover { var td_magnific_popup_translation_tPrev="Previous (Left arrow key)"; 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. .widget_display_replies .bbp-author-name, Our Toronto office acts for Ernst & Young Inc., as monitor in the CCAA proceedings of Bondfield Construction Company Limited and various affiliates. Mr. MacNaughton was named Canadas ambassador to the United States in March, 2016. 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