St. Michael’s Hospital fraud scandal surfaced with four brown envelopes sent to Globe and Mail journalists

Tuesday’s fraud convictions of a former senior hospital executive and a former Toronto construction boss were the culmination of a four-year police investigation and 24 days of court testimony. But for The Globe and Mail, the St. Michael’s Hospital procurement scandal began more than a decade ago with the delivery of four brown envelopes.

In June, 2015, four Globe journalists received identical letters in their mail slots urging reporters to ask questions about a recent decision by St. Michael’s and Infrastructure Ontario to award a $300-million contract to Bondfield Construction Co. Ltd. The aging hospital was overdue for a major refurbishment, and Bondfield, a family-owned company based north of Toronto, had beaten out two larger rivals to win the contract.