Two men charged after lengthy probe into alleged corruption within $300M redevelopment project at Toronto hospital
CTV
Police have charged two men after a lengthy fraud investigation into a $300-million contract awarded in 2015 for the redevelopment of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
Provincial police have charged two men after a lengthy fraud investigation into a $300-million contract awarded in 2015 for the redevelopment of St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.
A release issued Thursday by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said members of its Serious Fraud Office (SFO) found evidence of corruption within the process of awarding a contract associated with the project in 2015.
In 2011, the St. Michael's Hospital Redevelopment Project was approved for procurement in coordination with Infrastructure Ontario (IO), the agency overseeing the province’s major public building projects, the release states.
Investigators with the SFO said they found evidence of fraud through the offering or receipt of secret commissions within the process of awarding the contract for renovations in 2015.
As a result, OPP charged Toronto residents John Aquino and Vasos Georgiou.
Aquino, 50, is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of secret commissions.
Georgiou, 58, is charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000, one count of secret commissions, and one count of fraud on the government.