The Court of Appeal ordered a new trial on corruption charges, overturning a lower court ruling that stayed the proceedings because of a violation of rights.
Former Montreal executive committee chairman Frank Zampino and five co-accused will stand trial for fraud, breach of trust and corruption after Canada’s highest court announced on Thursday it would not hear a challenge to a Quebec Court of Appeal decision that overruled a stay of proceedings against them.
As is its custom, the Supreme Court of Canada did not offer any reason for its decision not to hear the appeal.
The trial of Zampino and the five co-accused will begin on Jan. 15, 2025 and preliminary motions will be heard the week of Oct. 7, 2024. Four months have been set aside for the trial.
Zampino and the co-accused were taken into custody in September of 2017 after an investigation by Quebec’s anti-corruption squad (UPAC). The squad alleged Zampino and the co-accused participated in a scheme to award municipal contracts in exchange for political financing. UPAC and the prosecutor’s office reported around 30 contracts were awarded between 2001 and 2009 in exchange for contributions to Union Montréal, the municipal political party headed at the time by Gérald Tremblay, who served as mayor from 2001 to 2012.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal acknowledged that the interception of telephone conversations had violated Zampino’s rights, but not to the extent to justify a stay of proceedings. The issue of whether that evidence could be used would have to be determined in the new trial.
The Court of Appeal decision also sent the co-accused back to trial.