Bondfield Construction Co. Ltd. was a Canadian

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

company that specialized in public sector projects in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Bondfield filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and its former CEO is facing fraud charges from a kickback scheme related to a major project at St. Michael's Hospital in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

History

Bondfield was founded in the 1970s by Ralph Aquino in the Toronto area with an early focus on public sector projects. John Aquino and Steve Aquino, Ralph's sons, became executives of Bondfield with John Aquino becoming CEO. John Aquino was replaced as CEO by his brother Steve in October 2018. By this time, Bondfield was significantly behind on its two largest projects and was being sued by subcontractors for unpaid invoices. The company was granted creditor protection in April 2019 after failing to renegotiate a lending facility with high yield lender

Bridging Finance Inc. Bridging Finance Inc. was a Canadian private lender based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that was placed in receivership by the Ontario Court of Justice following an investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Investors in the firm's ...

Criminal charges and conflict of interest

Following an investigation by Ontario's Serious Fraud Office, the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

charged former CEO John Aquino with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one charge related to the offering or receipt of secret commissions. Aquino's alleged accomplice at St. Micheal's Hospital, Vasos Georgiou, faces the same charges and an additional charge of fraud against government. The conflict of interest allegations are based on the fact that Georgiou worked directly for John Aquino before joining St. Michael's as chief administrative officer, and that Georgiou continued to have private business dealings with Aquino while evaluating bids from Bondfield for construction projects at the hospital.

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

disclosed the conflict of interest in a series of articles in 2015 and 2016. The hospital first suspended, and then fired, Georgiou in November 2015. It was later revealed that Bondfield provided Georgiou with a Blackberry that was used to share information on the bidding process.

Creditor protection and recovery

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

, the count-appointed monitor for Bondfield have claimed that there were over $80 million in false invoices issued to Bondfield and an affiliate, Forma-Con, from various entities related to John Aquino over a multi-year period. Ernst & Young is trying to recover $33 million that was paid in a period covered by the applicable law.

Projects impacted by the bankruptcy filing

- Cambridge Memorial Hospital in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Ontario. The project was delayed by two years at the time of Bondfield's bankruptcy filing, and the hospital had filed a 'notice of default' against Bondfield in 2018. -

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, Bondfield was responsible for phase 2 of the revitalization of Toronto's transit hub. The project was five years behind schedule at the time of Bondfield's bankruptcy. - St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto.

External links

Supreme Court of Canada's summary of decision on assigning responsibility for fraud in the Bondfield case (October 2024)CPA Ontario disciplinary charges against Deloitte auditor Steve KostichCPA Ontario disciplinary charges against Deloitte auditor Felice Iorio

References

{{Reflist Defunct companies of Ontario Construction and civil engineering companies of Canada Fraud in Canada Companies that have filed for bankruptcy in Canada Canadian companies disestablished in 2019