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First contract
The city signs its first contract with Zio's In-Transit Cafe, registered under numbered company 1211250 Ontario Inc., of which Tony Sharma is a director, president and secretary, to operate the downtown transit kiosk. -
First contract expires
Contract between City of Greater Sudbury and 1211250 Ontario Inc., now operating as Zio's Tuck Shop, to sell transit tickets on consignment at a kiosk at downtown transit terminal expires. At the end of the contract, the company is more than $142,000 in arrears. -
Second contract
Council approves a new three-year contract with the company to sell transit tickets on consignment, with greatly improved terms for the contractor than the previous one. Contract includes provisions for two single-year extensions. -
Zio's Contract
Zio's signs a new contract with the city to run a ticket counter and information booth. Renewal of the contract is based on acceptable performance for the length of the contract. At this point, it owes $262,000. -
Company debt
The company is nearly $215,000 in debt. -
Company in arrears
Company owes the city $142,459. -
Contract extension
The contract signed in 2004 ends and is extended for a third year. At this point, the company owes the city more than $340,000. -
Second contract extension
The contract is extended for a fourth year. Company is nearly $334,000 in arrears. -
Arrears growing 1
Company is $387,634 in arrears. -
Arrears growing 2
Company is $428,578 in arrears. -
Arrears growing 3
Company is $$581,818 in arrears. -
Period: to
KPMG review of Sudbury Transit
The city's external auditor, KPMG, begins a review of revenue processes at Greater Sudbury Transit. A few months later, asked to help develop reporting and monitoring procedures related to ride card and pass inventory, the company discovers 1211250 Ontario Inc. owes more than $800,000. The city never asks for, or receives, a final copy of the report. -
Arrears growing 4
The company is $850,602 in arrears. -
Contract extension expires
End of second year transit kiosk extension. City exercises option to extend contract for a third year. Company is $737,047 in arrears. -
Third year extension expires
End of third year transit ticket kiosk extension. Company is $824,025 in arrears. City continues to roll the contract in an effort to get its money back. -
Arrears reach peak
Company reaches its peak of money owed to the city – more than $1.1 million. -
City cancels kiosk tender
Tender is issued for new ticket kiosk contract. There's only one applicant – 1211250 Ontario Inc. – and the city cancels the tender. -
Notice of default
A Notice of Default letter is sent to the company, giving it two days to pay the city what it owes – $832,050. The company agrees to pay what is owing by Sept. 10 and provides post-dated cheques. -
City issues more tickets
Greater Sudbury Transit issues more than $22,000 worth of bus tickets to the company. -
Zio`s contract terminated
he contract with Zio's Tuck Shop is terminated. At this point, the city had not been paid since April 28, 2009 and is owed $866,537. The city recovered $287,910 through letters of credit, a certified cheque, cash on hand and $96,000 in unsold transit tickets. -
City wins judgement
City of Greater Sudbury wins a judgement of $578,816 plus costs of $1,211 against the numbered company, money the city has still not been able to collect. -
Brian Bigger transit audit
Auditor General Brian Bigger hands his audit on the Greater Sudbury Transit Kiosk and Cafe contract with 1211250 Ontario Inc. over to city management. His plan to present the report at the Aug. 9 Audit Committee meeting falls through, due to delays on management's end in getting back to him with comments. -
Mayor learns of deadline to sue Tony Sharma
Mayor Marianne Matichuk learns from Bigger that the two-year deadline for the city to sue Sharma to get its money back is coming up quickly. The next day, an emergency council meeting is held to discuss the matter. -
Audit presented to councillors
Bigger's report is finally presented to the Audit Committee. At this point, the two-year deadline for the city to sue Sharma expired more than a month ago. -
City apologizes
The city issues a statement 'deeply' apologizing for how staff handled the transit tickets contract. “All staff who has had an involvement in the matter acknowledges, as we did in 2009 when the matter was first brought to council, that better business decisions could have, and should have, been made.” -
OPP in town
At a city council meeting, Greater Sudbury Police Chief Frank Elsner tells councillors Ontario Provincial Police investigators are in town to look into just what happened with 1211250 Ontario Inc. “I've asked them to do whatever they can to expedite this, as ... we could really use some closure,” he says. -
Investigation continues
The OPP investigation continues.