The list grows of people alleged to have received kickbacks and bribes in a $214-million Winnipeg police headquarters project rife with inflated costs..Project director Ossama AbouZeid and his company, Dunmore, received a $105,000 kickback from the job’s chief contractor, alleged the City of Winnipeg in a notice of motion filed in court May 4, according to court documents cited by the CBC..AbouZeid was hired by the city to protect its interests..This is another development in ongoing legal action against several defendants including chief contractor Armik Babakhanians and his company Caspian..AbouZeid and Dunmore are alleged to have received the $105,000 kickback from Mountain Construction, another company controlled by Babakhanians..This comes on the heels of a March 15 Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench civil judgement that ordered Phil Sheegl, former Winnipeg chief administrative officer, to pay Winnipeg $1.1 million in damages..The court determined Sheegl, who plans to appeal the decision, accepted a $327,000 bribe from Mountain Construction..Chief Justice Glenn Joyal ruled against Sheegl and co-defendants FSS Financial Support Services Inc. and 2686814 Manitoba Ltd. ."This is a case about the acceptance of a bribe by a high-ranking city official, from a person with whom the city was then negotiating a multi-million-dollar contract," Joyal wrote in his 129-page decision..The city had asked for repayment of the $327,000, the $250,000 severance paid to Sheegl, and $100,000 in legal and punitive costs..In 2009, the city purchased Canada Post’s downtown complex for the Winnipeg Police Service’s new headquarters. The project was completed in 2016 at almost $80 million over budget..More than two dozen defendants have been named in a lawsuit launched by the city in 2020, alleging they were part of a fraud, embezzlement, and kickbacks scheme and conspired to inflate project construction costs..The recent court filing by the city amended the claim to add more people and companies to its lawsuit..AbouZeid and Dunmore are alleged to have received payment from Mountain Construction in 2011..The city claimed the money was transferred with the “knowledge that Dunmore and/or AbouZeid were agents of the city” doing business with other defendants “at the time the kickbacks were issued, in order to influence them to procure one or more of the defendants other unfair procurement advantages,” reported the CBC..The recent court filing raised a new allegation against subcontractor Peter Giannuzzi Jr., already one of the accused in the city’s lawsuit..Giannuzzi was a shareholder in Fabca-PMG and a numbered company which Caspian is alleged to have billed nearly $21 million for work these companies did on the project..According to Winnipeg’s chief administrative officer, Michael Jack, Mountain Construction made two $500,000 payments described as project profits to Giannuzzi..Meanwhile, forensic accountant Victor Neufeld, who was hired by the city to audit the projects records, found Caspian claimed almost $8 million — more than $2 million above — what it paid G&G Interiors Ltd. for drywall work, the CBC reported. .The city’s filing sought to have Giannuzzi Jr.’s father, Pietro, who is with G&G, added to the list of defendants.
The list grows of people alleged to have received kickbacks and bribes in a $214-million Winnipeg police headquarters project rife with inflated costs..Project director Ossama AbouZeid and his company, Dunmore, received a $105,000 kickback from the job’s chief contractor, alleged the City of Winnipeg in a notice of motion filed in court May 4, according to court documents cited by the CBC..AbouZeid was hired by the city to protect its interests..This is another development in ongoing legal action against several defendants including chief contractor Armik Babakhanians and his company Caspian..AbouZeid and Dunmore are alleged to have received the $105,000 kickback from Mountain Construction, another company controlled by Babakhanians..This comes on the heels of a March 15 Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench civil judgement that ordered Phil Sheegl, former Winnipeg chief administrative officer, to pay Winnipeg $1.1 million in damages..The court determined Sheegl, who plans to appeal the decision, accepted a $327,000 bribe from Mountain Construction..Chief Justice Glenn Joyal ruled against Sheegl and co-defendants FSS Financial Support Services Inc. and 2686814 Manitoba Ltd. ."This is a case about the acceptance of a bribe by a high-ranking city official, from a person with whom the city was then negotiating a multi-million-dollar contract," Joyal wrote in his 129-page decision..The city had asked for repayment of the $327,000, the $250,000 severance paid to Sheegl, and $100,000 in legal and punitive costs..In 2009, the city purchased Canada Post’s downtown complex for the Winnipeg Police Service’s new headquarters. The project was completed in 2016 at almost $80 million over budget..More than two dozen defendants have been named in a lawsuit launched by the city in 2020, alleging they were part of a fraud, embezzlement, and kickbacks scheme and conspired to inflate project construction costs..The recent court filing by the city amended the claim to add more people and companies to its lawsuit..AbouZeid and Dunmore are alleged to have received payment from Mountain Construction in 2011..The city claimed the money was transferred with the “knowledge that Dunmore and/or AbouZeid were agents of the city” doing business with other defendants “at the time the kickbacks were issued, in order to influence them to procure one or more of the defendants other unfair procurement advantages,” reported the CBC..The recent court filing raised a new allegation against subcontractor Peter Giannuzzi Jr., already one of the accused in the city’s lawsuit..Giannuzzi was a shareholder in Fabca-PMG and a numbered company which Caspian is alleged to have billed nearly $21 million for work these companies did on the project..According to Winnipeg’s chief administrative officer, Michael Jack, Mountain Construction made two $500,000 payments described as project profits to Giannuzzi..Meanwhile, forensic accountant Victor Neufeld, who was hired by the city to audit the projects records, found Caspian claimed almost $8 million — more than $2 million above — what it paid G&G Interiors Ltd. for drywall work, the CBC reported. .The city’s filing sought to have Giannuzzi Jr.’s father, Pietro, who is with G&G, added to the list of defendants.
