Ontario Construction News staff writer
A former hospital executive and a once-prominent construction boss were handed lengthy prison sentences Wednesday for orchestrating a “dishonest” scheme to steer a $300-million redevelopment contract at St. Michael’s Hospital.
Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden sentenced John Aquino, the former president of Bondfield Construction, to seven years in prison. Vas Georgiou, the hospital’s former chief administrative officer, received a five-year sentence.
Both men were found guilty last October of two counts of fraud over $5,000.
The sentencing caps a high-profile case that exposed deep corruption in Ontario’s public procurement sector. Justice Bawden found the pair manipulated the bidding process for the massive downtown Toronto hospital renovation, with Georgiou feeding Aquino confidential insider information to ensure Bondfield won the lucrative contract.
“The public invested a fortune in this procurement in order that it could sustain any scrutiny, and because of the conduct of the accused, we have effectively lost our money — that is a fraud on us,” Bawden said in his earlier ruling.
The court heard that Georgiou, who was a key member of the committee evaluating bids for the project, maintained a secret channel of communication with Aquino using a dedicated BlackBerry and a clandestine email account.
Through this back channel, Georgiou provided Aquino with sensitive details about rival bids and coaching on how to tailor Bondfield’s proposal. In one email sent just days before the bid deadline, Georgiou advised Aquino to “bid as low as you can” and negotiate later.
Bawden determined that Georgiou “put his thumb on the scale” to favour Bondfield, conduct he described as “objectively dishonest” and a betrayal of the public trust.
“Their actions demonstrate that even a well-regulated process may be susceptible to corruption at senior levels,” the judge wrote in his conviction decision. “This undermines trust in public procurement and may discourage qualified bidders from participating in future projects.”
The scheme caused significant fallout for the hospital and the province. The redevelopment project, originally slated for completion in 2019, has been plagued by delays and is now expected to be finished later this year. Bondfield Construction, once a giant in Ontario’s construction industry, collapsed into bankruptcy in 2019, forcing EllisDon to take over the project.
During the trial, defence lawyers argued that while rules may have been broken, the men’s actions did not amount to criminal fraud, suggesting that back-channel communications were common in the high-stakes world of construction. Bawden rejected this argument, stating he did not believe Georgiou’s testimony that he acted in the hospital’s best interest.
Aquino’s earlier reaction when he was convicted was explosive, with reports at the time quoting him as asking, “Are you f—ing kidding?” upon hearing the guilty verdict.
Unity Health Toronto, the network that operates St. Michael’s Hospital, has stated that it fully co-operated with the Ontario Provincial Police investigation and that the “criminal wrongdoing was isolated” to Georgiou.
The case was investigated by the continued Serious Fraud Office, a specialized team of investigators and prosecutors dedicated to complex financial crimes.
Georgiou and Aquino were also ordered to pay victim surcharges.