Frank Zampino admits mistake with water-meter contract

The former president of Montreal's executive committee — accused of potential conflict of interest in the city's water-meter contract — says he made a mistake spending his holidays with a businessman who later won the lucrative waterworks deal.

In an interview with Quebec news network TVA, Frank Zampino said it was a mistake to accept an invitation from Montreal entrepreneur Tony Accurso to spend time on his yacht while the water meter contract was up for tender.

"I apologize for making this error, I apologize for my family, for the Montreal administration, and for myself," he said in the French interview, aired Sunday night.

Zampino reiterated he did not intervene in the $355 million water-meter contract, which was eventually won by a consortium of Montreal companies, including one owned by Accurso.

The water-meter contract has been suspended and is being reviewed by the city's auditor general after Zampino's connection to Accurso was made public. Zampino has admitted the two men have been friends for more than a generation.

He said he's looking forward to having his name cleared, and is considering legal action against journalists he claimed are responsible for tarnishing his reputation.

Zampino resigned this winter from his new position as vice-president of Dessau Inc., a Montreal engineering company also part of the consortium that won the water-meter contract.

Accurso's other business dealings are being probed by the Canada Revenue Agency for alleged tax fraud.