On May 10, 2013, two men took the elevator up Toronto’s shimmering Ritz-Carlton hotel to a condominium owned by the DeGroote family. They were met by Michael DeGroote, who complained that he had been “robbed” by the Carbone brothers. “They shouldn’t be in business … slimebags,” the billionaire told his guests, in the first of two conversations that were recorded without Mr. DeGroote’s knowledge. Copies of those recordings were entered into the court record and obtained by The Globe and the CBC.

Photo: Former Crown attorney Peter Shoniker, who would consult for Dream partner Andrew Pajak, leaves his home in Toronto's Rosedale neighbourhood in 2004. (J.P. Moczulski/The Globe and Mail)

One of his guests – Peter Shoniker, a former Crown attorney and criminal-defence lawyer who had pleaded guilty to money laundering in 2006 after he was caught up in an undercover RCMP sting – was the son of someone who had been close to Mr. DeGroote: Mr. Shoniker’s late father, Eddie Shoniker, had chaired the Ontario Highway Transport Board, which regulates the trucking industry, at a time when Laidlaw was one of the biggest players in the industry.

The elder Shoniker, a onetime fundraiser for Ontario’s Progressive Conservative party, had gotten to know Mr. DeGroote, and the billionaire thought highly of him. So he responded positively when Eddie’s son, Peter, contacted him through an intermediary, Mr. DeGroote later said in a sworn statement.

Peter Shoniker explained to Mr. DeGroote that he had been consulting for Mr. Pajak at Dream, that he was familiar with the company’s books, and that he could help Mr. DeGroote prove that he had been defrauded. That revelation gave rise to the meeting.

The man accompanying Mr. Shoniker introduced himself to Mr. DeGroote as Alex Visser.

He was large and loud, with dark black hair, and was surprisingly fresh-faced for someone who claimed to be 60.

Photo: Alex Visser told Mr. DeGroote that the Carbone brothers had defrauded Mr. DeGroote and offered to gather evidence against them. (Supplied photo)

He said he was a former soldier – he didn’t specify for which country – who had been hoodwinked by the Carbones in a casino deal gone wrong in Montenegro.

Mr. DeGroote wanted to know where his money had gone, and Mr. Visser said he could help him. Using contacts he had in the Dominican Republic, he was prepared to gather up witnesses and affidavits for Mr. DeGroote to prove that the Carbones, in building Dream, had paid less for casinos than they reported, and had pocketed the difference.

“I’ll bring you everybody from their organization,” Mr. Visser said. “You ask me to do whatever... I’m at your disposal, Mike.”

Mr. DeGroote was adamant that he wanted Mr. Visser to speak with his lawyers at the Bay Street powerhouse McCarthy Tétrault. But Mr. Visser was dismissive of the idea. He aggressively pressed the billionaire – repeatedly asking Mr. DeGroote to look him directly in the eyes – to unleash him on the Carbones. The exchange seemed to exhaust the billionaire; at one point he had to lie down.

“I’m going to make sure the Carbones can’t even sell chestnuts on the corner of the fucking street,” Mr. Visser said.



DeGroote: “Well, hopefully they’ll be in jail by then.”



Visser: “Fuck jail. Jail’s too nice.”

Mr. Visser said he needed $500,000 and Mr. DeGroote’s complete confidence. He described how he would need to pay certain Dream officials to procure their evidence and testimony. “I’m looking you in the eyes and I’m not wavering. … When I tell you you’re going to need $5,000 to pay off the head of security for a statement, you’re going to give him $5,000.”



Mr. DeGroote replied, “I cannot buy evidence.”

But Mr. Visser prodded the billionaire, trying to get him to yes. They discussed the possibility of giving Mr. Visser an ownership stake in the company once Dream was no longer controlled by the Carbones.

Eventually, Mr. DeGroote agreed to wire Mr. Visser $250,000, and promised to pay him an additional $250,000 if he could come up with proof that he had been defrauded.

“I’m ready to go to war,” Mr. Visser said.



“You’ve got to do it quietly.”



“I’m stealth. I’m the shadow of the shadows. You hired me to be your shadow … You’re a man that can take care of me.”

The discussion continued the next day at the Ritz. Mr. DeGroote said he had spoken with his lawyer, who had advised him that he shouldn’t “dare do it.”

Mr. DeGroote said he didn’t want Mr. Visser to do anything for now, but nonetheless agreed to retain him for possible work in the future.

DeGroote: “Give me your wiring instructions, where to send the money to.”



Visser: “Okay.”



DeGroote: “No strings attached. I am not buying anything right now. But you’ll keep it in mind in the future. I am going to send you $150,000 Monday morning for nothing.”

He explained that, before he could deploy Mr. Visser, he needed to discuss the matter with his lawyers in more detail: “When I get things straightened out with the lawyers, how to do it, then we’ll be in touch. Then we’ll make it a deal. I have to do it right or I can’t do it at all.”

Unbeknownst to the octogenarian, Mr. Visser was one of many identities utilized by the intense man standing before him.

Photo: Clockwise from top left: Mr. Visser’s Bosnian passport under the name Željko Žderić, his Croatian passport under the name Pavle Kolić and his Canadian passport under the name Sasha Vujacic. Each passport indicates a different place of birth. (Supplied photos)

Crown attorneys and police across Ontario know Mr. Visser as a con artist named Zeljko Zderic, with a record of dozens of criminal convictions for, among other crimes, fraud, assault and uttering threats. He’s also known to carry a Croatian passport with the name Pavle Kolic, as well as a Canadian passport with the name Sasha Vujacic. (In the underworld he is simply known, like a criminal rock star, as Sasha.)

The billionaire was also unaware that his new acquaintance was recording these conversations – and that at some point in the days after their meetings, he would give the Carbones snippets of his first exchange with Mr. DeGroote.

The brothers filed the recordings in response to Mr. DeGroote’s suit, arguing that there was a conspiracy to derail their business. Mr. DeGroote responded by saying that after the meeting he had received legal advice that paying for affidavits or evidence would be illegal, so he never sent Mr. Visser any money. He also sent Mr. Visser a letter four days after the meeting stating that the deal was off. “It is not my desire to interfere in the running of the business,” he wrote.

(Judge Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court ruled in November, 2013, that Mr. DeGroote’s discussion with the gangster did not undermine his claim of being defrauded by the Carbones. “A huge amount of money appears to have been misused, and it is understandable that without any reports that he was entitled to, [Mr. DeGroote] would try to obtain evidence from someone who would know the situation in the Dominican Republic,” the judge stated.)

Relying on Mr. Visser also proved to be damaging for the Carbones. Given their shared penchant for recording conversations, it should have come as no surprise to them that Mr. Visser was also wired up when negotiating with one of them. Mr. Visser would later claim that in one of those recorded conversations Francesco Carbone discussed the idea of engaging him to murder Mr. Pajak.

Starting in late July, a lawyer for Mr. Visser entered into talks with Mr. DeGroote about handing over Mr. Visser’s recordings. They were unable to reach an agreement because Mr. DeGroote refused to pay for evidence, the billionaire said in an affidavit.

But on July 30, Mr. Shoniker agreed to go to the Ritz to play the recording of the alleged murder discussion for Mr. DeGroote; he arrived with Mr. Visser’s son. What Mr. DeGroote heard showed how dangerous this venture had become.

Visser: “What do I have to make Pajak look like? Like just a shooting, or just like a … But can we whack him in the Dominican?”



Francesco Carbone: “No.”



Visser: “We can’t kill him in the Dominican?”



Carbone: “It’s worse, bro.”



Visser: “Why?”



Carbone: “It’s worse there. Because it’ll fucking hit every fucking paper … the fuck you kidding? Bro, you’re fucking destroying me. It will be a catastrophe. Think about it. Fucking here it’s a regular fucking builder – big fucking deal. Over there it’s the president of Dream Corporation.”

Now it was Mr. DeGroote’s turn to pull a fast one. Unbeknownst to Mr. Shoniker, Toronto police officers were hiding at the Ritz, also listening in. They swooped in, seized the computer and took Mr. Visser’s son and Mr. Shoniker in for questioning, according to two sources present for the meeting.

Mr. Visser’s response was to flee the country.

A little more than a week later, the police charged Francesco Carbone and Mr. Visser with counselling to commit murder. (Mr. Visser was charged under the identity of Zeljko Zderic, but the charges were dropped two weeks later.) Mr. Carbone surrendered his passport – which meant he could no longer travel to the Dominican Republic.

In December, five months after the arrest, the charges against Mr. Carbone were also dropped. As is its standard practice, the Crown did not publicly explain the decision. Mr. Carbone has since launched a malicious-prosecution lawsuit against Toronto police and the Attorney General’s office. As for the contents of the recording, he says, “I believe the tape was spliced and cut.”