The five-year-old criminal investigation into kickback allegations involving ORNGE air ambulance is about to wrap up.Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Peter Leon confirmed that the investigation is close to completion, but would not say whether charges will be laid or provide any explanation for the unusually lengthy probe.“I have reached out to Detective Superintendent (David) Truax and can confirm that the criminal investigation is still ongoing and anticipated to be completed soon,” said Leon. The investigation of former ORNGE boss Dr. Chris Mazza began in February 2012 after a series of Toronto Star stories that probed safety issues and allegations of connections between Mazza and suppliers, including Italian helicopter company AgustaWestland.The story that brought in OPP detectives revealed how after ORNGE bought helicopters from the Italian company, a private, Mazza-controlled firm received a payment of $4.7 million and the promise of $2 million more from AgustaWestland. The Italian firm has said it did nothing wrong and is trying to retrieve some of that $4.7-million payment in court. The OPP was asked by the province to investigate that transaction, along with other transactions.In the aftermath, Mazza and many top officials at ORNGE lost their jobs and a new board of directors was put in place. ORNGE is a provincially funded and regulated agency that receives $150 million annually. It operates a fleet of fixed-wing planes and helicopters tasked with providing air ambulance service.Mazza took over the provincial air ambulance agency in 2005, rebranding it ORNGE. Years later, a conservative critic of the Liberal government would quip that the beleaguered ORNGE dropped the “A” because A stood for “accountability.”Mercurial at times, Mazza, a former emergency room doctor from Sunnybrook Hospital, took the agency on a dizzying ride. Executive compensation rose, with Mazza the biggest beneficiary. In six years he ...
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