Contrecoeur fraud case again pushed back over recordings between defence, accused

The fraud trial against Frank Zampino and five other men is facing further delays following revelations of police recorded conversations between the defence and the accused.

• Contrecoeur case delayed after defence learns of recorded conversations with accused

Quebec Court JudgeYvanPoulinagreed to delay proceedings until Fridayafter the defencerequested time to file a motion in regard tothe wiretaps.

The recordings weremade as part of a separate, ongoing police investigation.

Zampinowas arrested, along with several others, in the spring of 2012 on charges of fraud, conspiracy and breach oftrust in connectionwiththe FaubourgContrecoeurland transaction in Montreal's east end.

The other co-accused areAndrFortin,PasqualeFedele, MartinD'Aoustand PascalPatrice. The construction firm FrankCatania&Associatesis also amongthe accused.

On Tuesday, the Crowntold the court that 25 conversations involving defence lawyers and their clients had been recorded. Of these, 11were deemed pertinentto the Contrecoeurcase.

The Crown protested against the delay in proceedings, saying all the relevant information has already been disclosed.

However, Zampino's lawyer, IsabelSchurman, told the court she was already preparing a motion to review the content of conversations between her and her client, as well as how the civilian agent was instructed to carry out the surveillance.

"I feel like I'm in a parallel universe in terms of everything I've ever seen and heard about attorney-client privilege and about wiretaps," said Schurman.