Havana Group Supplies Inc., according to Grant Norton, had won a massive contract to do paving and concrete work for 192 GO Transit parking lots and walkways across Ontario.
A company with ties to a local mobster and convicted fraudster is alleged to have perpetrated a multimillion-dollar scam that has resulted in tattered lives and lawsuits across the Hamilton area
ON JULY 28, 2018,
a splashy grand opening for a new company took over the dining room of the Carlisle Golf Club north of Waterdown.
Lining the driveway to the clubhouse were dozens of dump trucks, big rigs, backhoes and other machinery used in the paving and construction industries, decked out in the green and black of a new company called Havana Group Supplies Inc.
The company was incorporated a month earlier, even though the new company’s business cards had “25 Years in Ontario” stamped in the top, right corner.
This was a big night for Havana Group Supplies Inc., and much of it is captured in a nearly hour-long video, apparently produced by the company.
As the after-dinner speeches began, the crowd would soon be cheering news that seemed too good to be true.
In reality, the story of Havana Group Supplies Inc. and a complex web of related companies has led to a lengthy list of court proceedings in
Hamilton, Cayuga and Milton, with lawsuits containing an astonishing array of allegations about questionable dealings by Havana and companies related to some of the principals.
Among those principals:
• Pat Musitano, a member of one of Hamilton’s long-standing Mafia families, who was shot in Mississauga Thursday morning after meeting with a lawyer for Havana Group Supplies.
It’s not known if Musitano’s shooting is connected to his involvement with Havana Group Supplies or a separate matter.
• Ex-lawyer John Findlay, of Hamilton, is now facing charges for allegedly misappropriating $2 million from a class-action lawsuit.
• Steve Sardinha, of Hamilton, who once ran a haulage company and has since amassed a long list of fraudrelated charges and convictions.
PROTESTS
OVER the company’s practices have boiled over publicly. At least twice in the last month, truck operators who allege they haven’t been paid have lined the streets.
And the mess has left one family in tatters, with parents headed to court to foreclose on the house of their son.
But that July night, the video showed master of ceremonies Grant Norton at the mic telling a very different story.
In addition to his attachment as a “corporate consultant” with Havana Group Supplies Inc., Norton held himself out as a consultant for Metrolinx, GO Transit and CN Rail, according to court documents, with the authority to procure and award contracts.
First came the announcement of the company’s big news and the reason for the gala evening.
Havana Group Supplies Inc., according to Norton, had won a massive contract to do paving and concrete work for 192 GO Transit parking lots and walkways across Ontario.
Along with some contracts awarded for parking lot work at Casino Rama, Casino Niagara and Flamboro Downs, and some contract work for CN Rail, it meant a cheque would land in the account of Havana Group Supplies for the staggering amount of $110 million every month.
“These contracts are for five years and more,” Norton said.
“They enable each and every person in this room to have the security to know they can provide for themselves and their families.”
If true, that would be a five-year windfall of $6.6 billion for Havana Group Supplies.
There was a lot of cheering around the room. In the crowd were a number of employees wearing bright orange T-shirts with reflective safety stripes.
The cheering continued when Norton told the employees they were going to get a raise. All they had to do was sign up with representatives from Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, who were waiting for them just outside the dining room.
Later, Norton announced the company wanted to share its good fortune with others, so $2 from every load of soil hauled would be donated to something called the “Cancer Research Foundation.”
With a total of 165,000 loads planned, Norton said, it meant the company would donate $330,000, and a promissory note to that effect was apparently signed with fanfare.
Norton held up a big novelty cheque on a white board in the amount of $5,000 that was going out immediately, with “Cdn. Cancer Society” listed on the recipient line and “First Donation” written in the memo field. There was more cheering.
If it sounds too good to be true, goes the adage, it probably is.
Metrolinx, which owns and operates GO Transit, says it has no record of contracts being awarded to Havana Group Supplies Inc. or any other of its related companies, nor does it have any record of a Grant Norton as a consultant.
A spokesperson for CN Rail indicated the company hasn’t awarded any contracts to Havana Group Supplies, its affiliates or its principals, and CN Rail isn’t associated with Grant Norton.
Norton told The Spectator Friday that, on the advice of his lawyer, he would be prepared to comment on the allegations next week and provide “the true facts.”
Casino Rama and Flamboro Downs indicated to The Spectator they have not awarded any business to Havana Group Supplies Inc., its affiliated companies or individuals associated with those companies.
Casino Niagara indicated it has not awarded any business to Havana Group Supplies or its related companies.
A spokesperson for the Canadian Cancer Society stated the charity has not received any donations from Havana Group Supplies Inc., its related companies or its president, who signed the novelty cheque.
Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities Directorate doesn’t list any organization known specifically as the “Cancer Research Foundation” as a registered charity.
And a lawyer for Local 793 of the IUOE said the union now has 10 different applications in litigation with the Ontario Labour Relations Board after negotiations with Havana Group to unionize its employees broke down following the gala evening.
“Local 793 has obtained certain bargaining rights with respect to Havana Group Supplies Inc., (and) Local 793 will enforce these bargaining rights and pursue matters at the Ontario Labour Relations Board as needed,” stated Melissa Atkins-Mahaney, legal counsel for IUOE Local 793.
And the contracts highlighted by Norton that July night?
“As far as we can tell based on our own investigations, Havana Group Supplies Inc. is not performing any work pursuant to any of the contracts they spoke about at the July 28, 2018, grand opening,” Atkins-Mahaney added.
It’s now alleged in a court document that some of the pieces of heavy construction equipment that lined the Carlisle Golf Club driveway for the grand opening had been rented for four days and decked out with the company’s logo to give the impression the equipment was owned by Havana Group Supplies Inc.
LAWSUITS
INVOLVING Havana Group, related companies and their principals are now flying back and forth, and the courts will likely be asked to make sense of the complicated business relationships that have been struck over the past year.
On one side, two different groups of plaintiffs have gone to court seeking separate injunctions to freeze the assets of Havana Group Supplies and a number of its related companies, as well as an order forcing the companies to reveal their financial statements and details about payments made to some of the principals.
On the other side, Havana Group Supplies and its principals have filed defamation and breach-of-contract lawsuits against some of the same plaintiffs in Hamilton court.
Meanwhile, some of the people associated with Havana Group Supplies Inc. and its related entities are facing a number of criminal charges, including theft, fraud, breach of trust and the use of forged documents.
At the centre of the story is 46-yearold Steve Sardinha — also known as Steve Silva — who once ran a haulage company in north end Hamilton with his late father, Geraldo.
It’s been alleged in one court case that Sardinha signed a lease deal with the false name “Steve Silva” to help hide his past fraud convictions.
Over the past dozen years, Sardinha has amassed a long list of fraudrelated charges and convictions for bilking customers through his commercial and residential renovation businesses. In several of the cases, Sardinha would take substantial deposits, start renovation work and then abandon the job.
In at least one case, Sardinha was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest and three years of probation.
Last October and December, Sardinha was charged with 11 criminal counts laid in St. Catharines. The charges include four counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of use of a forged document, one count of uttering threats to cause bodily harm, one count of mischief over $5,000, one count of attempted fraud over $5,000, one count of failing to comply with bail conditions and one count of failing to comply with a probation order.
Sardinha did not respond to requests for comment from The Spectator.
Also involved in the Havana Group Supplies web is ex-lawyer John Findlay, who recently had his law licence revoked by the Law Society of Ontario for misappropriating nearly $2 million from the settlement money for a class-action lawsuit.
Findlay has been involved with some of the corporate entities in the Havana web and is now Havana Group’s director of corporate affairs. He was suspended from practising law in 2017 until his licence was revoked earlier this month.
In a court document filed in one of the Havana Group cases, it’s been alleged Findlay continued to provide legal advice and services after he was suspended by the Law Society.
Findlay denies the allegation, stating he has not continued to practise law.
In a statement to The Spectator, Findlay indicated he has “been careful to comply with the Law Society Act with respect to the prohibitions against providing legal services.”
In September, Findlay was charged with theft, fraud and breach of trust related to the misappropriation of the class-action settlement funds.
Another one of the principals tied to Havana Group Supplies is alleged to be Pat Musitano, a member of one of Hamilton’s long-standing organized crime families and believed to be a childhood friend of Sardinha.
It’s alleged, in court documents, that Musitano is a minority owner of Havana Group Supplies and that he was receiving under-the-table cash payments that could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Truck operators who allege they haven’t been paid for months by Havana Group Supplies or its affiliates for hauling soil have now started protesting.
On April 9, dozens of trucks tried to block the entrance to a rural Flamborough property connected to Havana Group Supplies, where it’s alleged that tens of thousands of loads of soil have been dumped improperly.
Some of the truck operators also showed up at Cayuga’s court April 17 while a court proceeding related to Havana Group was being heard.
“We were promised the world,” said one truck broker, who requested anonymity because he’s fearful of reprisals from Havana Group. “Every week, we were hearing the money’s coming.
“For the last couple of months, the money’s coming next week, next week, next week,” said the broker, who is owed a substantial amount of money. “And next week’s never come. We all got duped.”
What’s worse, the broker added, “is that half of these trucks that are green and black are my trucks.”
Joseph Irving, the lawyer who met with Musitano the morning he was shot, sent a letter April 12 on behalf of Havana Group Supplies to truck brokers stating that $12.5 million was being held in a trust account, but there were certain “irregularities” in the invoices.
Irving stated none of the money would be disbursed until the invoices were reviewed by an auditor.
Irving’s letter also ordered the truck operators to cease with “blockades at the job sites.”
The tangled mess has already split apart one family.
Henrietta Rowe and her husband, Chris Sr., now 81 and 80 respectively, were the founders and original owners of Burl-Oak Paving. It’s alleged their son, Chris Jr., spirited away control of Burl-Oak Paving from two of his siblings after he became involved with Sardinha and Havana Group Supplies.
The elder Rowes have now had to go to court to try to foreclose on the house of their son to get back money they’re owed.
“I can’t believe he’s my son, I can’t,” said Henrietta Rowe in an interview. “My husband’s crying every day.
“You have no idea what these people are doing to everybody,” she said. “They’ve destroyed my family.”
UNTANGLING
the Havana Group story isn’t easy, but here goes.
In 2017, Lou and Audrey Larochelle met Steve Sardinha through a mutual acquaintance. The Larochelles, who live near Caistor Centre, did some casual work for Sardinha on a contract with the race track in Fort Erie and they became friends.
After the three of them returned from a vacation to Cuba, the Larochelles decided to go into business with Sardinha.
They incorporated a company called Havana Group Inc. on March 27, 2018. It’s alleged in a court document that Sardinha is married to a citizen in Cuba and makes regular trips to Cuba, which helps explain the use of “Havana” in the company name.
The Larochelles, according to a lawsuit they’ve filed, agreed to the business arrangement because Sardinha had told them he had contracts in place with Metrolinx and CN Rail through Grant Norton to provide “asphalt paving, excavation and surface maintenance services for all GO and CN Transit stations from Hamilton to Oshawa.”
According to the Larochelles’ lawsuit, Norton held himself out to have authority to procure and award GO and CN contracts as a consultant. “He represented that he had direct access to Metrolinx bid and tendering decision-makers and would award the contracts to Lou and Audrey if they followed his and Steven’s advice,” according to the statement of claim.
The allegations contained in the various lawsuits involving Havana Group and its principals have not been proven in court.
In his statement of defence to the Larochelles’ lawsuit, Norton states “that at no time did he make any representations to Lou or Audrey that he had any authority to procure any contracts on behalf of CN or GO.”
Norton told The Spectator he would be prepared to comment next week and provide “the true facts.”
“Our lawyer strongly suggests you do not write anything yet or it could result in a lawsuit,” Norton said.
In addition to the GO and CN contracts, Sardinha and Norton allegedly told the Larochelles they had contracts in place with certain casino properties that involved “no risk, were certain and would be lucrative.”
But before the GO and CN contracts could be awarded, according to the Larochelles’ lawsuit, they needed to go through an inspection process by Metrolinx and CN Rail, “which required the purchase of a wide array of commercial paving equipment and vehicles, incorporating a company, designing a logo and hiring employees.”
In their statement of defence, Sardinha and Norton, along with the other defendants, deny the Larochelles’ allegations.
In anticipation of receiving the contracts, the Larochelles began buying vehicles and equipment. Sardinha allegedly demanded that ownership of the equipment and vehicles be placed in the name of Forever Topsoil, one of his other companies.
In exchange, it’s alleged, the Larochelles became minority shareholders of Forever Topsoil and were told they’d eventually own 50 per cent of the shares.
According to the Larochelles’ lawsuit, they investigated the supposed contracts with Metrolinx “and have discovered that these contracts never existed” and that Sardinha, Norton and related companies never “submitted a bid for tender through Metrolinx’s public tendering system.”
Metrolinx indicated to The Spectator it has no records of any such contracts and no record of a Grant Norton as a consultant.
In their statement of defence, Sardinha and Norton claim “it was never anticipated that there would be a direct contract with any of CN, GO or
It’s not known if Musitano’s shooting is connected to his involvement with Havana Group Supplies or a separate matter.
Sardinha was charged with 11 criminal counts laid in St. Catharines. The charges include four counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of use of a forged document, one count of uttering threats to cause bodily harm …
Metrolinx, as these contracts were invariably awarded to general contractors, such as major engineering firms, who would, in turn, subcontract the work.”
Three months after Havana Group Inc. was created, a new company called Havana Group Supplies Inc. was incorporated.
Zach Everett, who is about 27 years old, was listed as the only director on the incorporation documents and described as the company’s president until last week. The Larochelles’ lawsuit describes him as a “close ally and business associate” of Sardinha.
The Larochelles allege Havana Group Supplies holds itself out to be Havana Group Inc. deliberately to misinform others and “reap profits” at the expense of the Larochelles. They allege the newer Havana Group Supplies uses the same logos and branding as the original Havana Group Inc.
In response, Sardinha and Norton and the other defendants claim the original Havana Group Inc. “was not being properly managed” by the Larochelles, and “they were in danger of losing employees and being exposed to potential liability.” As a result, Sardinha and Norton determined they could no longer continue in business with the Larochelle family.
The Larochelles are seeking $700,000 in damages for, among others, fraud, unjust enrichment, misappropriation, breach of contract and breach of trust.
They are also seeking a so-called Mareva injunction order that would freeze the assets of various companies and principals, including Sardinha, his mother Maria, and Norton. They are also seeking an order that restricts Havana Group Supplies from carrying on business and an order that the company disgorges any profits received “as a result of the fraudulent schemes.”
The Larochelles declined to comment while the case is still before the court.
Meanwhile, Sardinha, Norton and the other defendants have launched a counter claim against the Larochelle family, seeking almost $12 million for defamation, harassment, breach of contract and interference in economic relationships.
The Larochelles aren’t the first ones to seek a Mareva injunction against Steve Sardinha.
Last April, a numbered company associated with a property in Grimsby succeeded in freezing the assets of Sardinha, a company he jointly owned called Voralto Group Inc. and one of Sardinha’s business associates.
According to a Divisional Court decision, Voralto was portrayed as a landscaping company that wanted to lease part of the property at 241 South Service Rd. in Grimsby to park trucks and temporarily store clean topsoil. As part of the agreement, it’s alleged, Voralto was required to insure the property against environmental contamination.
Within days, it’s alleged, hundreds of trucks began arriving at the property and dumped 1,500 loads of industrial waste. One day after delivering the insurance certificate, it’s alleged Voralto cancelled the policy.
Sardinha is alleged to have signed the lease with the false name “Steve Silva” so the property owner “would not become aware of his past fraud convictions.”
The Divisional Court agreed to the Mareva injunction. Based on the evidence, the three judges stated, Sardinha and the other defendants “are very likely to attempt to dissipate or hide their assets or remove them from the jurisdiction.”
Niagara Regional Police investigated and laid nine criminal charges in October against Sardinha. In December, two new charges against Sardinha were added for failing to comply with bail conditions and a probation order.
Also dragged into the Havana
It’s alleged in court documents that Pat Musitano is a minority owner of Havana Group Supplies and that he was receiving under-the-table cash payments that could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The truck operators are now claiming they haven’t been paid for months, in some cases, for hauling loads of soil on behalf of Havana Group Supplies. In court documents, one truck broker claims to be owed more than $230,000.
“Havana told the public they had CN, GO Transit and casino contracts worth $110 million per month for five years. In the end, there is no money.” GARY MCHALE Former vice-president of Havana Group Group web is Burl-Oak Paving, a family-run business started in 1974 by Chris Rowe Sr., 80, and his spouse, Henrietta, 81.
As they prepared for retirement, the Rowes agreed to sell 50 per cent of the business to their son, Chris Rowe Jr.
According to an affidavit filed in court by Henrietta Rowe, the remaining 50 per cent was then divided equally between four children, including Rowe Jr., which meant Rowe Jr. owned 62.5 per cent of the company and each of the other three siblings owned 12.5 per cent.
Her affidavit states the Rowes also included a stipulation that, going forward, major decisions would require 80 per cent of the shares to be in agreement. That way, at least three of the four siblings would have to be aligned.
Last June, her affidavit states, Rowe Jr. approached his parents for a $500,000 loan because Burl-Oak was going to be a subcontractor on some of the Metrolinx contracts purportedly associated with Sardinha and Norton.
“I said no at first,” Henrietta Rowe said in an interview. “I said ‘Sorry Chris, we don’t believe it’s going to happen. We’ve been in this business all our lives, and that’s not the way they work.’ We went to that grand opening and we said ‘This is a con,’” she added.
In an affidavit filed in court in March, Henrietta alleges she met with Norton, Sardinha and Lou Larochelle at the Burl-Oak Paving yard in Oakville and asked Norton pointblank if he was a consultant acting for Metrolinx. “Yes, I am,” he allegedly replied.
Despite their reservations, the Rowes agreed to loan Rowe Jr. $500,000. They already had an unregistered mortgage of $550,000 on Rowe Jr.’s house in Oakville.
It’s alleged in court documents that Rowe Jr. has transferred the major assets of Burl-Oak Paving to Havana Group Supplies or its related companies and principals without the consent of two of his brothers.
“He needed 80 per cent of the votes, but he didn’t care,” Henrietta said.
“He just amalgamated with them. We built that company up for all those years, and then my son gives it away,” she said. “And he had no right to.”
“He’s persona non grata,” said Rowe Sr. “He’s abandoned his two brothers.”
The elder Rowes are now trying to foreclose on Rowe Jr.’s house to get back the $1.06 million they’re owed.
“It is absolutely a nightmare,” said Henrietta.
“The worst thing he’s done is he’s divided the family.”
Rowe Jr. did not respond to requests for comment from The Spectator. In an affidavit filed in court, Rowe Jr. claims his parents were approached by some of the plaintiffs suing Havana Group Supplies Inc. and “in my opinion, wrongly accepted some of the allegations put forward by the plaintiffs.
“This has very much soured their opinion of Havana Group Supplies Inc. and has badly affected my relationship with my parents,” he stated in his affidavit.
“I believe that a small family-run corporation like Burl-Oak Paving Ltd., which primarily did driveways and small parking lots, needs to align itself with other corporations to obtain access to larger commercial contracts, to stay competitive and to increase its sales volume and profitability,” the Rowe Jr. affidavit states.
IF
THERE ARE no paving and concrete contracts with Metrolinx, CN Rail or the three casinos, what are Havana Group Supplies and its related companies doing?
It turns out that hauling soil can be potentially lucrative.
Here’s how it works:
Let’s say Company A is contracted to do a big construction project that requires excavating and removing large quantities of soil.
Rather than finding dump truck operators one by one, Company A will hire an intermediary — such as Havana Group Supplies, for example — to arrange for trucks to pick up the soil, remove it and dump it somewhere. Company A pays the intermediary an amount per truckload that covers the cost of removing the soil, dumping the soil, the truck driver’s cost and the intermediary’s fee. The intermediary would then pay the truckers and pay the site that accepts the loads of soil. This is where Waterdown Garden Supplies Ltd. enters the story.
In 2003, Bill Van Ravenswaay purchased Waterdown Garden Supplies out of bankruptcy. The company’s 40-hectare property on Highway 5 in Troy was a composting site operating with a certificate of approval from Ontario’s environment ministry.
The Larochelles were friends of Van Ravenswaay and he knew last spring that they had become involved with Sardinha and Havana Group. Van Ravenswaay said in an interview that he trusted the Larochelles so he decided to trust Sardinha, and he fixed a couple of trucks for him last April.
He then agreed to lease three acres of the Troy property to Sardinha for $2,500 a month. Havana Group was going to be moving soil onto the property and then removing it for a different project. Later, the agreement was expanded to include another 20 acres.
Under the agreement, Sardinha and Havana Group could dump loads of soil on the acres they leased at no charge. Waterdown Garden’s money would come from the $200 they’d receive for every load of soil that left the Troy site.
According to Van Ravenswaay, the agreement also stipulated one load of soil had to leave the site for every two loads dumped there to keep the piles manageable.
“You’ve got to remember, it was believable to us because they bought new dozers, they had new trucks,” Van Ravenswaay said in an interview. “They put on a good show.”
THERE
WAS ANOTHER reason Van Ravenswaay put his trust in Havana Group.
Van Ravenswaay’s vice-president at Waterdown Garden Supplies was Gary McHale, who was also a vicepresident of Havana Group Supplies for a period of several months last summer and fall. McHale came to public attention more than a decade ago as an activist and protester for his opposition to the handling of the 2006 occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates housing development in Caledonia. At one time, McHale’s lawyer was John Findlay, whose law licence was revoked in April after the Law Society determined he misappropriated nearly $2 million from the classaction settlement fund for Caledonia residents and businesses affected by the occupation.
McHale was officially terminated by Havana Group Supplies on Nov. 9 and he now alleges the company has breached an agreement he had with them over payment. McHale is now mired in a number of court actions on both sides of the fence. He’s one of the defendants named in the Larochelles’ lawsuit against Havana Group Supplies, Sardinha and Norton.
On the other side, McHale, Van Ravenswaay and a couple of their associates went to court in March on an emergency basis to seek a Mareva injunction freezing the assets of Havana Group Supplies, a number of related companies and principals, including Sardinha, his mother, Norton, Rowe Jr. and Musitano.
A week later, Havana Group Supplies and several of the people named in the Mareva injunction turned around and launched a $9.9-million lawsuit against McHale for defamation, interference in economic relations and breach of contract.
They allege McHale defamed them when he “stated that they are all engaged in illegal activities” and that they “conspired to commit fraud.” They also allege McHale defamed Findlay by claiming Findlay had violated Ontario’s Law Society Act.
They also allege McHale is “motivated by malice,” according to their statement of claim. McHale said he’s not acting out of malice but a sense of duty.
“I stood up for the people of Caledonia for years and now I cannot sit back and watch dozens of businesses and families lose everything,” McHale stated to The Spectator.
“Havana told the public they had CN, GO Transit and casino contracts worth $110 million per month for five years,” McHale added. “In the end, there is no money. Unfortunately, the shooting of Pat Musitano may well demonstrate how frustrated individuals are.”
In December, Van Ravenswaay lost control of the Troy property when a mortgage went into default.
He had also declared personal bankruptcy, which meant his shares in the Waterdown Garden Supplies Ltd. were technically being held by the trustee in bankruptcy.
In February, a company aligned with Havana Group Supplies and its principals purchased the shares of Waterdown Garden Supplies from the trustee in an auction, meaning Van Ravenswaay no longer owns the property or the business.
Since last summer, it’s alleged, more than 24,000 loads of soil have been dumped at the Troy property. In some places, the piles of soil appear to be at least 10 metres high. The truck operators are now claiming they haven’t been paid for months, in some cases, for hauling loads of soil on behalf of Havana Group Supplies. In court documents, one truck broker claims to be owed more than $230,000.
“When I tried to stop it, I didn’t have the support, and I was pushed aside,” Van Ravenswaay said. “Now all these people are owed all this money.”
Van Ravenswaay said the events of the past year have stolen his retirement from him.
“Many, many lives” have been destroyed, he added. It’s going to end in violence because they’ve screwed people over so badly,” said Van Ravenswaay. “It’s getting serious.”