Ex-SNC executive sentenced to prison term in bridge bribery case
A former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal, the RCMP say.
Normand Morin, once a high-ranking vice-president at the engineering firm, received the sentence Tuesday after his conviction for corruption and fraud last month.
A police investigation revealed that SNC-Lavalin executives paid bribes of roughly $2.3 million in order to secure a $128-million contract to repair the Jacques Cartier Bridge deck in the early 2000s.
In 2017, Michel Fournier, former CEO of the Federal Bridge Corp., admitted to receiving the bribes through Swiss bank accounts between 1997 and 2004.
Fournier, who served as chief of staff to Jean Chrétien when he was Opposition leader in the early 1990s, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison and has since received full parole.
Ex-SNC vice-president Kamal Francis was also hit with forgery and fraud charges in 2021. Court proceedings are ongoing, the RCMP said.
SNC-Lavalin — now known as AtkinsRéalis — agreed in 2022 to pay Quebec nearly $30 million over three years to settle criminal bribery charges stemming from work on the bridge that spans the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Longueuil, Que.
The deal, a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, allowed the company to continue doing business with the governments of Quebec and Canada as well as abroad.
The RCMP said the charges resulted from a complex investigation dubbed Project Agrafe (“Staple”) that started in 2013. It was carried out by the Sensitive and International Investigations division of the force, mandated to investigate criminal activity that poses a threat to Canada’s government institutions, public officials or the integrity of the Crown.
SNC-Lavalin was previously charged with bribery and fraud in relation to its past work in Libya, which became the focal point of the high-profile 2019 battle between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould.
In December 2019, the company reached an agreement that saw its construction division plead guilty to a single count of fraud, accompanied by a $280-million fine, while other charges related to acts committed in Libya between 2001 and 2011 were set aside. The company retained the right to bid on federal government contracts.
The same month, former SNC-Lavalin vice-president Sami Babawi was found guilty of bribing foreign officials and pocketing millions of dollars. He was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in January 2020 after a jury found him guilty of five fraud and corruption charges.
He has until early 2025 to pay back $24.69 million that he earned from his crimes.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 24, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
The pros and cons of discussing mental health issues in the workplace
A group of lawyers has written what they call a groundbreaking book about how mental health is perceived in the legal profession.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.