Frank Zampino resigned from engineering firm after reports of his trips on Tony Accurso's yacht, corruption trial told

Montreal Gazette

26-05-2025

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When Frank Zampino left politics in 2008, his next job was with one of the engineering firms that took part in the bid-rigging scheme he is alleged to have organized while he was president of the city of Montreal's executive committee.
Zampino's final days as the head of the committee was one of the last things he testified about Monday in his own defence over the course of three days in a trial that began early in February.
His lawyer, Philippe Morneau, announced late in the afternoon to Quebec Court Judge Silvie Kovacevich that he had no further questions for his client. The judge then told the lawyers of the four other men charged in the same trial that she would let them think overnight about whether they want to cross-examine Zampino on Tuesday before the prosecution will.
Before the day came to an end on Monday, Morneau asked Zampino about his decision to step down as the head of the executive committee in 2008 and about his next job as chief financial officer and an executive vice-president for Dessau, one of the 13 engineering firms that took part in the bid-rigging scheme.
The job at Dessau came with a $250,000 annual salary, but Zampino said he felt he had to resign a few months after he started when reports by La Presse surfaced about how he had taken trips on the Touch, a yacht owned by construction magnate Antonio (Tony) Accurso.
Years after the reports surfaced, Accurso was convicted on criminal charges involving his role in a similar bid-rigging scheme run by former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt for many years. Accurso ended up serving time behind bars for being part of the massive collusion scheme.
On Monday, Zampino said he left politics on his own terms and that he began planning his departure in 2007.
'I obviously announced this to the mayor (Gérald Tremblay). He was the first one that was made aware, close to two weeks before the announcement (was made public at a press conference at city hall). I had asked him to keep it confidential, which he did. He was obviously not expecting that news. I explained it to him and he very much accepted my decision, although I was not finishing my mandate.'
'Why did you decide to leave before the end of your mandate,' Morneau asked.
'I was actually contemplating this before the 2005 election, through a personal reflection on my part,' Zampino said, adding he wanted to give Tremblay a year and a half to find his replacement before the next election.
Zampino said the next thing he did was take 'an extended vacation' in Europe with his wife, but before they left he was offered a position with Dessau by Jean-Pierre Sauriol, then the engineering firm's chief executive officer.
'It was a nice company and a growing company, a nice Quebec company that was growing fast and prosperous,' Zampino said. 'It looked extremely interesting to me. Its revenues were close to three-quarters of a billion dollars.
'This is why I accepted the position.'
Zampino started at Dessau in January 2009, but the reports about what turned out to be two trips on Accurso's yacht surfaced a few months later and he resigned in April 2009. Zampino also told Kovacevich that he insisted on being billed for his vacations on the Touch and that he paid Accurso $10,000 in total.
'In the midst of your discussions (to be hired at) Dessau, were you aware that Dessau was part of a bid-rigging scheme in Montreal or anywhere else,' Morneau asked.
'Absolutely not,' Zampino said. 'I had no idea of what was going on in Montreal. There was never any discussion of a bid-rigging scheme whatsoever.'
Zampino said he left Dessau following 'an intense 10-day period' when media were publishing many reports about politicians and union representatives who took long trips on Accurso's yacht.
By the third day, Zampino said, he had a meeting with Sauriol and his brother Rosaire, also an executive with Dessau, and offered his resignation.
'I said that I didn't like what was going on in terms of (Dessau's) image,' he said. 'They had refused it at the time. Jean-Pierre said: 'No, let's ride the storm. It will go away.' It did not go away.'
Earlier on Monday, Zampino was asked for his reaction to Rosaire Sauriol's testimony in the trial. When he was asked if he considered Zampino to be a friend, he told the court: 'No, we had a business relationship.'
'I was quite surprised at the answer. Rosaire Sauriol was someone I had known since 1998, from my days (as a politician) in St-Léonard,' Zampino said, adding Dessau purchased an engineering firm that had done most of the infrastructure work in St-Léonard along with SNC-Lavalin.
'I got to know (Rosaire Sauriol) back then, in the '90s, and over the years we had a professional relationship that totally turned into a friendship.'
On Sept. 20, 2017, Rosaire Sauriol admitted he was part of the Laval bid-rigging scheme that Accurso was a part of. Sauriol pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust and was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $200,000 fine.