John Aquino walks into the Superior Court of Justice Courthouse, in Toronto, on Nov. 12.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
A former executive of Bondfield Construction Co. Ltd. has backtracked on testimony at the trial of two men facing fraud charges related to the redevelopment of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, agreeing during cross-examination that they did not in fact own interests in two businesses together.
Vas Georgiou, the former chief administrative officer of St. Michael’s, and John Aquino, the former president of Bondfield, are each charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000. Both men have pleaded not guilty and the allegations against them have not been proved in court.
The Crown’s case against Mr. Georgiou and Mr. Aquino focuses on their alleged undisclosed business connections, as well as their alleged secret communications throughout the bidding process for the $300-million renovation and expansion of St. Michael’s, which Bondfield won in 2015.
Domenic Dipede, Bondfield’s former chief financial officer, testified earlier this week that Mr. Georgiou had an ownership interest in Gervais Property Management Inc., a commercial property company controlled by Mr. Aquino. He also testified that Mr. Georgiou had invested in an entity called Conundrum Solar Partners along with Mr. Aquino in February, 2014.
During his cross-examination on Wednesday, however, Mr. Dipede agreed to a suggestion by Peter Brauti, lawyer for Mr. Georgiou, that the proposed investments in Conundrum and Gervais never came to fruition for Mr. Georgiou.
Based on his memory, Mr. Dipede said, the Gervais investment never occurred. He also agreed that the solar investment was not executed.
Mr. Dipede had testified that Mr. Georgiou had an ownership interest in Gervais, which owned two commercial buildings on Gervais Drive in north Toronto, even though Mr. Georgiou’s name did not appear on any of the corporate documents. He said Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou came up with the arrangement and did not discuss it with him.
Mr. Dipede said Mr. Georgiou put together leases for some of the tenants in the Gervais Drive buildings and approved invoices for work done on them.
The Crown also took him through e-mails earlier in the week that suggested Mr. Aquino and Mr. Georgiou had both invested in Conundrum in February, 2014.
Mr. Brauti said Wednesday that the only time Mr. Georgiou sent or received an e-mail during all the discussions regarding the Conundrum investment is when he introduced Mr. Dipede to an investor. “I suggest what happens is that Mr. Georgiou never ends up getting involved in this transaction at all,” Mr. Brauti said.
On Gervais, Mr. Brauti showed Mr. Dipede an e-mail that Mr. Aquino sent to himself in September, 2012, saying, “Look at Gervais percentage for Vas. 10 percent free rest pay, deduct for help on stuff.” Mr. Aquino forwarded the e-mail to Mr. Dipede, instructing him to file it.
Asked by Mr. Brauti if that was a potential idea that never got executed, Mr. Dipede said it was an idea that predated Mr. Georgiou’s arrival at St. Michael’s in January, 2013, but that never occurred.