Corruption trial: Prosecution continues to grill Zampino about ‘Mr. Three Per Cent'

Montreal Gazette

29-05-2025

Montreal Crime
By
The personal life of the man who came to be known as 'Mr. Three Per Cent' appeared to be a mess while he was allegedly involved in the bid-rigging scheme that is at the heart of Frank Zampino's municipal corruption trial.
Zampino, the president of Montreal's executive committee between 2002 and 2008, was again asked several questions Thursday morning about an alleged attempt by Bernard Trépanier to extort $1 million from Smart Centres, an Ontario-based real-estate development company that was interested in building a shopping centre on the site of a quarry in St- Michel.
During the trial, which began at the Montreal courthouse on Feb. 3, Quebec Court Judge Silvie Kovecevich has heard evidence that Trépanier was fired from his job as the head of fundraising for Union Montréal because of the alleged extortion attempt.
The incident is not related to the charges Zampino, 65, and four other men face in the trial, including Robert Marcil, 60, the former head of Montreal's public works department.
Zampino and Marcil face three charges each: conspiracy, fraud and breach of trust. The other three accused are former executives with engineering firms.
The scheme stretched from 2004 to 2009, and the case involves 34 contracts worth more than $160 million.
The prosecution's theory is that Zampino organized a plan to award contracts, offered through public tenders by the city of Montreal, in exchange for illegal financing for Union Montréal. Zampino is alleged to have put in place and orchestrated a system of collusion with the goal of leading the fraudulent awarding of contracts to 13 engineering firms in exchange for political contributions to Union Montréal.
Trépanier is alleged to have acted as an intermediary between Zampino and the engineering firms.
Some of the evidence heard in the current trial was also heard during the Charbonneau Commission, a public inquiry into construction contracts held years ago. During the inquiry, Trépanier came to be known as 'Mr. Three Per Cent' because that is what he is alleged to have asked for in the form of kickbacks for Union Montréal when contracts were awarded to colluding companies.
In 2017, Trépanier was charged in the same case and died of natural causes in 2018. It appears that the prosecution is implying Trépanier had become so brazen in his role in the bid-rigging scheme that he simply tried to extort $1 million from Smart Centres without having to create another bid-rigging scheme.
Questions posed by prosecutor Nicolas Ammerlaan while cross-examining Zampino on Thursday indicated Trépanier was struggling financially while the incident involving Smart Centres allegedly took place.
Zampino said Trépanier lived in a condominium on Jarry St. in St-Léonard in a building that 'was not extravagant' and that he got around in a Dodge Caravan 'that was not a recent model.'
'According to the image of what I saw, it was a very modest living, but I don't know what his finances were,' Zampino said.
Ammerlaan reminded Zampino that Marc Deschamps, a former official agent with Union Montréal, testified that he had informed Zampino that Trépanier was 'in trouble' with both provincial and federal revenue agencies around 2006 or 2007.
'I think I had already left city hall (in 2008) when (Deschamps) had informed me,' Zampino said.
'In 2006 or 2007, did he inform you that Bernard Trépanier was going bankrupt, but (Deschamps said) that didn't bother (you),' Ammerlaan asked.
'I don't remember Marc Deschamps mentioning that (but) don't dispute what you're saying,' Zampino said, adding that Trépanier 'never, never' told him he was facing bankruptcy.
'I don't know what his financial affairs were. We can't judge a person based on the car they are driving or the condominium they've purchased. I never inquired about what his personal finances were.'