Former head of Montreal executive committee arrested in anti-corruption raid

MONTREAL – A former president of the city of Montreal‘s executive committee has been arrested by the province’s anti-corruption unit.

Frank Zampino was taken into custody early this morning after authorities went to his Montreal home.

The arrest came just a few hours after prominent construction magnate Paolo Catania was detained at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Robert Lafreniere‘s anti-corruption unit had its first major bust last month, arresting 14 people including construction bigwig Tony Accurso.

It also detained politically connected players in an alleged scheme involving kickbacks and bribes in exchange for advantages in the awarding of public-works contracts.

The alleged construction scandals have rocked the province for years and eventually forced Premier Jean Charest to launch a public inquiry that gets going later this month.

Zampino vacationed on Accurso’s yacht before and after one of Accurso’s companies was awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to install water meters as part of a consortium.

Zampino had gone on to work at another engineering firm that was also part of the consortium, and quit when the yacht stories came out. He maintained he had never intervened on behalf of any company.

The $355-million water-meter contract was ultimately cancelled following the revelation and a critical auditor general’s report.

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