In a magnanimous gesture, Ornge, Ontario’s not-for-profit medical transport company currently under investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police, has sold a motorcycle to fund the purchase of medical equipment.
Mired in controversy for its dubious disbursement of funds, Ornge recently auctioned off one of two custom motorcycles bearing the company’s name. The custom bike, which was valued at $50k, was sold at auction to an unidentified buyer for $30k.
Both of the Ornge bikes were built by Orange County Choppers (OCC) and were valued, according to the manufacturer, at $150k. Ornge says that the custom choppers were paid for by Agusta Westland, an Italian helicopter company who presented them to the company as a gift. Ornge had given Agusta Westland a reported $144 million for 12 helicopters, but afterward Ornge’s subsidiary for-profit companies were handed $6.7 million from Agusta Westland for “marketing services.”
The second of the two OCC-built customs features a sidecar (pictured here) and is said to be in storage at OCC’s manufacturing facility. Confusingly, Ornge claims that it’s still owned by AgustaWestland even though both bikes were commissioned as promotional tools for the now defunct Ornge Foundation and were apparently gifted to the company.
Ornge has a growing history of questionable activities and expenditures including its former charitable division’s use of a $50k speedboat to promote water sport safety. The expensive toy saw brief service before it was put in storage and eventually sold.
