ZAMPINO, CO-ACCUSED ACQUITTED
Contrecoeur case judge derides Crown
Frank Zampino, the former No. 2 politician at Montreal City Hall, and his co-accused were acquitted on all charges in connection with the Contrecoeur land deal on Wednesday.
And while the impact on the accused was immediate as they all walked out of the courtroom free men nearly six years to the day after they were arrested by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad, it remains to be seen what ricochet effect the verdicts — and specifically, the judge’s conclusions about an absence of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt — could have on other municipal corruption cases that are either currently under investigation or being brought forward by the Crown.
In an 88-page ruling that took Court of Quebec Judge Yvan Poulin all morning to read out in court, the judge refuted every one of the Crown’s arguments that there was proof of fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust in the 2007 sale of the city-owned land known as Faubourg Contrecoeur at a discounted price to a construction firm.
In fact, the judge derided one of the prosecution’s arguments to support its theory of a conspiracy as “a call to speculation founded on conjecture.”
Poulin also called Zampino’s testimony in his own defence during the trial “coherent” and “convincing.”
And in a further blow to the Crown, the judge dismissed its main witness, former engineering firm executive-turned-police informant Michel Lalonde, saying he was vague and spoke in generalities when he testified at the trial that Zampino and those involved in setting up the process to sell the Contrecoeur land had indicated to him in advance that Catania’s firm was designated to win the call for tenders.
Poulin noted that the events that Lalonde testified about occurred several years ago.
The others who were found not guilty are Paolo Catania, who was president of Construction Frank Catania et Associés Inc., the firm that won the Contrecoeur land, and four former executives of the firm: Martin D’Aoust, Pasquale Fedele, André Fortin and Pascal Patrice. The firm was also declared not guilty.
Catania hugged his fellow accused before leaving the courtroom when the hearing ended.
Chief prosecutor Nicole Martineau, meanwhile, told reporters outside the courtroom that her office will examine the ruling in detail during the coming days before deciding whether to appeal the acquittals.
All of the defendants faced charges of conspiracy and fraud. In addition to those charges, Zampino and Catania were also accused of breach of trust over trips that they and their spouses took together around the time of the call for tenders to sell the land as well as gifts of wine.
In his ruling, Poulin said Zampino and Catania’s explanations for the trips and how one of them wound up being charged to the credit card of Catania were “plausible.”
The trial, by judge alone and no jury, began in February 2016. It heard from 63 witnesses, 56 of them called by the prosecution, and received more than 600 pieces of evidence.
Quebec’s anti-corruption squad, UPAC, arrested nine people in 2012 in connection with the Contrecoeur sale.
The city’s real-estate agency, Société d’habitation et de développement de Montréal (SHDM), which sold the land, discounted $14.7 million for decontamination and other costs from the $19.1-million winning bid submitted by Construction Frank Catania et Associés. The firm wound up paying $4.4 million to purchase the land for a housing project valued at $300 million.
One of the accused, Martial Fillion, died before the case reached trial.
Fillion was hired as general director of the SHDM after serving as chief of staff to Tremblay in the mayor’s office.
Another accused — Daniel Gauthier, an urban planner who was brought in by Fillion to oversee the call for bids for the land — pleaded guilty to fraud at the start of the trial in February 2016.
He was sentenced to 18 months to be served at home and 180 hours of community service.
Another person arrested in connection with the Contrecoeur deal, former municipal political fundraiser Bernard Trépanier, was ordered a separate trial after he began cancer treatments in 2016.
His trial has been postponed indefinitely because of his condition.
Poulin said the Crown didn’t prove that the price offered by the Catania firm for the land was something other than the fair market value.
He also said the Crown didn’t prove that the estimated price to decontaminate the land was inflated.
And the judge rejected the Crown’s argument that the financial incentives granted by the city to the Catania firm to develop the land were favouritism.
In fact, the judge called the financial incentives a known practice by the Tremblay administration to induce developers to include affordable housing in their projects.
Fillion’s decision to lower the interest rate charged to the Catania firm on a municipal loan to develop the land was the result of “legitimate business negotiation,” Poulin said.
The judge said there was little doubt that Fillion was involved in wrongdoing by making certain decisions without the authorization of the SHDM board.
However, Poulin declared there was no evidence that Zampino or the co-accused were aware of any irregularities committed by Fillion. He also said there was no evidence that Zampino benefitted from any advantages.
It remains to be seen whether Poulin’s brush-off of key witness Lalonde will have damaging consequences for the Crown in other cases. Lalonde is collaborating with UPAC in at least one of the branches of another investigation into municipal corruption in Montreal dubbed “Projet Fronde.”
UPAC arrested Trépanier and Zampino under that branch last September, along with former civil servant Robert Marcil and five former heads or employees of engineering firms. They face charges of municipal corruption, fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with the awarding of consulting contracts by the city.
Lalonde, a former engineering firm executive, was a star witness at the Charbonneau commission and has been collaborating with the police since 2010.
He is also a key informant in other branches of the parallel Fronde investigation, according to search warrants made public in that investigation. The Fronde investigation began as a probe of the city ’s now-cancelled $356-million water-meter contract.
Zampino swept past reporters after hearing Poulin’s ruling. However, his lawyer, Isabel Schurman, read a statement saying that Zampino maintained his innocence in the matter for six years.
“He deplores the delay, but is relieved that he had the opportunity to speak and that he was heard and that Judge Poulin has acquitted him of all charges,” Schurman said, reading from a sheet.
“He sincerely believes today as he has since from day one that he should never have been accused in this matter. And defending himself in such a highly publicized case has represented immense emotional and financial strain for his family.”
Reacting to the verdicts, Mayor Valérie Plante said she was surprised by the outcome. The city will analyze Poulin’s ruling in detail, she said, to see what impact it may have on future cases.