Montreal mayor reacts to kickback allegations - Ex-tycoon Lino Zambito says 3% of value of city contracts was paid to Tremblay's party

 CBC News Posted: Oct 1, 2012 10:57 AM ET
Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay's political party got payments from construction entrepreneurs tied to the value of contracts they received, a former participant in the scheme said Monday in his second day of bombshell testimony at Quebec's corruption inquiry.  Former Montreal construction mogul Lino Zambito told Quebec's corruption inquiry that three per cent of the value of each contract was funnelled back to Tremblay's Union Montreal. Zambito said the money was paid to Nicolo Milioto, who was president of Mivela Construction, and identified by police and Zambito as a middle-man between construction magnates and Montreal's Rizzuto crime family. Zambito said the payments began in 2005 or 2006, and Milioto told him they were destined for Union Montreal. It's the first time at the inquiry that testimony has linked direct payments from construction entrepreneurs to Tremblay and his party. Tremblay is scheduled to talk to the meida at 11:30 a.m. ET. Zambito first took the stand on Thursday, when he made stunning disclosures about how construction companies colluded to divvy up city work between them and rig the prices of contract bids. In that testimony, he said companies that landed contracts from the city would pay a 2.5 per cent "tax" to the Rizzutos.