The Gazette from Montreal, Quebec, Canada • 6

-A6 I THE GAZETTE, MONTREAL, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 oft II The tapes. Wiretapped conversations captured by police in 2002 and played in open court this week suggest favours and kickbacks are often the cost of doing business with Montreal city hall. The recordings were played at the trial of Jose Sardano and Luis Vitorino. The two Laval businessmen are charged alongside former city councillors Irving Grundman and Rene Dussault in a municipal corruption scandal. Grundman and Dussault resigned from Mayor Gerald Tremblay's party last week on the same day they pleaded guilty to a charge of municipal corruption.

The two political veterans from St. Laurent were caught in a sting operation by an undercover Surete du Quebec officer who used the alias Luigi Santamaria. After Sardano tried to negotiate a $100,000 payment with Dussault for a zoning change in a church project, the SQ officer stepped in. He paid Dussault $75,000 (down from $100,000) to make a zoning change that would allow the construction of a church. These excerpts from police wiretaps illustrate how the kickback scheme developed: i pteMit1 fell iiji JOHN KENNEY THE GAZETTE bUllding 111 qiieStiOn.

The 4145 Henri Bourassa Blvd. location that was to be the site of a St. Laurent church mentioned in taped conversations played at the trial of two developers charged with Irving Grundman and Rene Dussault. ft MARCOS TOWNSEND THE GAZETTE Luis Vitorino, 54, is a Laval construction contractor. He, along with Sardano, is to learn Quebec Court Judge Jean-Pierre Bonin's verdict on Oct.

7. JS: Yes. LV: Tabernac! Greedy JS: He told me for a smaller project of between $3 (million) and $4 million they got that much. He said it's a favour because of me, because I know Rene. If not, it would have been a lot more.

On April 3, 2002, a bug captured a conversation in Dus-sault's office at borough hall in St. Laurent. Rene Dussault and Irving Grundman discussed Sardano. Dussault said he heard on the news Sardano was busted for bootlegging. IG: The only thing I'm concerned about and I've always been concerned about is who I'm dealing with.

Only one person. One. IG: Be careful. RD: I know, I know. IG: Don't put yourself in a jackpot.

RD: IG: The guy wants to come here and talk to you, you can talk. Don't talk to him on the phone. RD: No, and he has to be alone. IG: And you have to watch. The guy could have a tape on him, too.

RD: I know. Who could know? IG: (...) Let him come in. Look at him, talk to him. Be careful of what you say. You never know with those damn no-goods.

Can't afford to get screwed. Is I I I LJ LJ On April 22, Dussault and Grundman talked about the fact a new intermediary has come on board in the church project. Luigi Santamaria who is actually an undercover SQ agent told Dussault he took over for Sardano after he was arrested for bootlegging. Santamaria said he'd been called in by the priest. RD: Is the deal still on? IG: (...) If they don't put it on the table, we don't pass it.

(...) And your out will be, "Well, we'll study it again. It may take a year." That's an easy out. RD: No. IG: Don't get yourself in a jackpot! RD: The point is that they know we have made certain arrangements. IG: (...) I would rather lose the next election than get caught in the jackpot.

RD: But of course. IG: Don't worry about the people. The people don't worry about you! You have to protect yourself. You went in like a man. You want to honour what you said you were going to do.

They have to honour it and be forward. And the guy agreed to it. Now why did they fire him? RD: (inaudible). IG: Did he tell them it's going to be 150 RD: No. IG: And it's going to be 75 (...) The only thing I'm worried about is that you don't know how sharp this guy is.

Is he wired? RD: I don't know. IG: Does he have a recorder? RD: I don't know. IG: Don't mention numbers. Take a piece of paper out and just write it down. And make sure he doesn't take the paper.

Don't mention numbers. Try to talk as little as possible but be straight with the guy and be strong with the guy If we don't get it before, Rene, we're going to have to run our asses off. IG: And we won't get it. RD: What bothers me more is now the father is involved. IG: I'm not comfortable.

RD: Me neither. IG: And as time goes on, more people are going to know because if it's there, it's done, it's finished. If it keeps dragging on, I'm afraid of more people (getting involved). I've done this for quite a few years, OK, and so far, so good. Why should we put ourselves in an uncomfortable position? Tell him you want to start COD.

Then we'll change the zoning, then you can go ahead. But Joe Chinese prowler (sic) used to bring the laundry in. They give you a ticket, when you come to get the laundry the Chinaman would say "No tickee, no washy" RD: Yeah, OK. Should we phrase our proposal differently? These guys don't know. Maybe they think it's for you and I.

IG: No, it's for the party. You should tell (them) this, Rene. It was never for me. RD: I know, I know. IG: If it was for me, everybody would have an envelope like that.

RD: No, no. I'm just asking the question to clarify. IG: Tell him, "Look my friend, I'm sure you've been around. I'm sure you know how in politics every political party RD: Needs money IG: Needs money to function. This is a way for us to cover our finances.

On April 29, 2002, Dussault pops his head into Grundman's office with some good news. Music playing in the background on the wiretap obscures some of their conversation, as does the noise of drawers opening and closing and papers rustling. RD: I have all the money! IG: Good! Good! Take it home and put it under your bed. Ha, ha, ha. It's going to be good to sleep on.

(...) FILED BY ALLISON HANES, GAZETTE JUSTICE REPORTER LJ PIERRE OBENDRAUF THE GAZETTE Rene Dussault, 68, was elected to St. Lau rent city council in 1986. He won a landslide victory for Tremblay's party in 2001 and was handpicked for a plum post on the board of the Montreal Transit Corp. the amount of the project. LV: Yes.

JS: I kind of understood. You see, he didn't want it to come from him. He wanted me to throw out something. I didn't throw anything out. Then he asked, "How much do you think that project is worth?" And I said, "Five, six, seven ($5 million to $7 million)." LV: Yes.

JS: That's it, right, five, six, seven? LV: It will be $2 million for the first phase. JS: I don't know if he wanted to calculate a percentage on it. When I got out of there I went right away to see Rene. LV: Yes. JS: According to Rene it's in the six figures.

I said, "Whoa." I said I'd see. I don't know. I find that a lot. Like I said, one of my friends had to pay 15, another put down 50 and it was residential. It's in the six figures (...) LV: We have to know soon.

(Later, Sardano shares his impression of Grundman). JS: Before we talked about that we talked about hockey. He was general manager of the Canadi-ens for five years, 12 years in hockey I wanted to relax him, so we talked hockey He likes talking hockey. You know, he's 72 years old. He's a nice guy An hour later, Vitorino and Sardano spoke again.

At 9:50 a.m. on Jan 31, 2002, Jose Sardano phoned Luis Vitorino from his company. JS: I have good news for you. The project will probably go forward, no problem. Mr.

Grundman was in a meeting. JS: So I waited for Rene. After that, Rene took me into his office. And I have to meet him in person. Mr.

Grundman at his bowling alley. He has a bowling alley on Laurentian, or something like that. LV: Yes, yes. JS: So I have to go meet him one on one. He doesn't want to meet me with Rene or anybody else.

Two guys. Just me and him. JS: Do you understand why? So he can tell me how much for his fund, to give an investment for the next direction (sic). JS: You know, for their political party. You have to give something for the political party JS: So Rene's going to meet him again.

He's going to give me the time I have to call him. I'll fix the meeting. Probably tomorrow I'll meet Mr. Grundman over there. When I get out of it, I'll tell you how much it will take.

Then the project will go ahead. There's no problem. LV: But what I want to know is, can the guys start working on the plans or not? JS: In my mind, yes. But you can wait until tomorrow. I'll talk to Mr.

Grundman. He'll tell me how much for his party Later the same day, Vitorino calls Sardano back: LV: I have a question for you. LV: When you met Rene, was Grundman there? LV: Was Grundman there with you or not? JS: He was in the office next door but he had people with him. JS: (...) Rene is going to call me this afternoon. He's going to say, "OK, call Mr.

Grundman. You have a meeting with him at such and such a time at his bowling alley LV: Rene doesn't know when? JS: No, no, he's going to call me this afternoon. After I get out of there I'll call you and tell you "Luis, it's going to take this much for the party" I don't know. LV: You say it's for the party JS: Yes, yes, for the party. They need to raise funds for the party for the next election because this one cost too much.

They passed their budget. They got up to $5 million. LV: Tabernac! JS: Wait, though, he wants to invite me to a fundraiser on Feb. 27. LV: Um.

JS: There are tables for $10,000 a $1,000 cover. And he said to me, "Jose, you have to come." Me, I don't want to go, I don't have the money for that. They raise money at $1,000 a ticket. Then, when I was there he had a call on the line, on his cell phone, from Rocco. JS: And Rene was trying to sell tickets to Rocco because he had a project approved not far from there on Henri Bourassa, six 0- MARCOS TOWNSEND THE GAZETTE Jose Sardano, 54, operates Maconnerie Global Achat Plus a bricklaying firm.

His sister was once married to Rene Dussault. JS: He really wanted to know the cost of the project. If you calculate it all together we're talking $10 (million) to $12 million. I talked about it being five, six (million). LV: Yes.

JS: Five, six, seven. That will be the scale of the project. Because he said to me, "How much will the investment be? What is the project?" Why is he asking me that? I think I have an idea, but I'm not sure. LV: Yes. JS: That's what it's going to be based on, I think.

That's why I didn't want to say eight, nine. I knew it was more, Luis, but I didn't want to tell him. LV: What? JS: The higher the cost of the project is, the more he's going to demand. You understand? If we say the project is $15 million, he's going to say "Great!" and ask for the eyes out of our heads. LV: No, but you can't trick him, either.

JS: What do you How can we trick him? We can't trick him. He's in charge. We don't have a choice. On Feb. 7, 2002, Sardano called Vitorino with some news.

JS: Where are you? LV: At my mother's. JS: At your mother's. One zero zero LV: One zero zero? ALLEN MclNNIS THE GAZETTE Irving Grundman, 78, was first elected to St. Laurent city council in 1968. He handily won a seat for Mayor Tremblay's team in 2001, just before the mergers.

He also served as general manager of the Canadi-ens from 1979 to 1983. floors. So he took a table. I don't know if your guys are aware of that. In any LV: We have to see if they're going to go.

JS: It's going to work; it's certain. JS: By paying the party it's going to work. JS: I know because my friend had 125 houses sold in Riviere des Prairies, and he had to give 15 ($15,000) under the table. He didn't like that. LV: But of course.

You always have to pay It's normal. JS: Then there was another, he had two or three projects. He had to give 50 ($50,000) in bundles of 10 ($10,000) for different people. It's disgusting. LV: Yeah, but it's like that in Montreal.

JS: You know what I said? I said, "OK, I said I'll meet him with Luis." He said "No, no, no, not two." And that's when the light went on. No witnesses. LV: (inaudible) JS: I don't know, Luis. I don't know about this. I've never done this.

I don't know. At 10:01 a.m. on Feb. 2, Sardano called Vitorino about his meeting with Grundman. They first discussed whether they are firmly attached to the chosen site.

JS: And then he wanted to know.