Nalcor chose Quebec firm for Muskrat Falls work after owner testified at corruption inquiry
Giuseppe Borsellino denied links to mob in February 2013 testimony at Charbonneau commission
Nalcor Energy placed a Quebec-based firm on its approved bidders list for a significant Muskrat Falls contract the same month the majority owner of Opron Construction testified about handing over envelopes of cash for public works projects in his home province, but denied involvement with the Mafia.
Opron Construction later won the contract to supply and install nine buildings at the Muskrat Falls work site.
Opron Construction showed up on Nalcor's approved bidders list in February 2013, according to the Newfoundland and Labrador Crown-owned energy company's Muskrat Falls public benefits report.
That's the same month Giuseppe Borsellino testified at Quebec's Charbonneau commission that he and his cousin were 51 per cent owners of the firm.
"Opron Construction is my investment with the guys, yes," Borsellino said.
Bids rigged for Montreal contracts
Borsellino admitted at the commission to participating in a collusion scheme, involving one of his other companies, that saw bids rigged for Montreal municipal public works contracts.
He also testified that he paid for a $50,000 Italian vacation for the head of the Quebec construction union and the former head of Montreal's public works department and their wives.
Other officials received hockey tickets and expensive wine. Borsellino claimed he didn't like it, but did it anyway — describing such activities not as kickbacks, but instead as helping with networking.
The commission revealed that Borsellino frequented a club police believe is linked to the mob. But he stressed in his testimony that he was only there for social, not business, dealings.
Borsellino also could not recall if he was invited to the wedding of the son of legendary Montreal Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto, and couldn't remember if he attended or not. He said if he did, it was through his ties to the bride's family.
He blamed some of his memory loss on a 2009 beating that forced him to undergo seven hours of facial reconstruction surgery.
Borsellino didn't call the police after that attack, and acknowledged at Charbonneau that it could have been linked to the Mafia.
He denied paying any kind of a cut to the mob.
"Absolutely not," Borsellino testified.
'Industry best practices' followed, Nalcor says
Borsellino's testimony at the Charbonneau commission came while Opron Construction — of which he and his cousin held majority ownership — was seeking work on Muskrat Falls.
This week, Nalcor Energy defended that contract award, but declined to address Borsellino's ownership of the firm, or whether the Crown-owned company knew about his testimony at the Charbonneau commission.
Bennett added that "Giuseppe Borsellino was not included in Opron Construction's request for proposal (RFP) submission for the administrative buildings at Muskrat Falls and he was not part of the RFP review and evaluation process for this contract."
Opron Construction was the winner in a field of eight companies pre-approved to bid for the job — half of them resulting in formal proposals.
Bennett's statement noted that those four submissions were evaluated on technical ability, risk management, quality, health and safety, benefits, commercial and environment.
"Following this rigorous process, Opron Construction was the best-value, compliant bidder meeting all technical and commercial conditions of the contract to supply and install the administrative buildings at Muskrat Falls site," Bennett noted.
CBC Investigates has no information to suggest there was anything improper about that contract award.
Bennett also noted that lien claims by subcontractors and suppliers are common in large projects such as the Lower Churchill.
Buildings now completed and in use
According to Nalcor, all nine buildings are now finished, in use, and were completed within the contract amount. Those include the materials testing laboratory, fire and ambulance shelter, security building, the gatehouse, camp maintenance building, a sports complex and the site administration complex.
Nalcor doesn't reveal the value of contracts for Muskrat Falls work.
But subcontractors for the job have filed lawsuits seeking more than $8 million, combined, for alleged unpaid bills.
Opron Construction has filed a statement of defence in at least one of those cases.
The company's St. John's-based lawyer declined comment on that lawsuit in an email to CBC Investigates last week.
And Opron Construction president Ralph Tropea, contacted by Radio-Canada last Friday, also declined comment about the lawsuits and what role, if any, Giuseppe Borsellino currently has with the company.
