MONTREAL -- Pamela Mattock Porter will remain behind bars until her trial on charges of money laundering begins.
Mattock Porter, who is married to former MUHC director Arthur Porter, was denied bail Tuesday after she allegedly helped her husband hide $22.5 million in illicit bribes.
Though Mattock Porter offered several guarantees to the court in exchange for her release on bail, The Crown argued that she poses a flight risk.
"She has available to her a great amount of money as the evidence has shown, but there's a publication ban as you know on the facts of the case so I'd rather not go further on that," said prosecutor Marie-Helene Giroux.
The judge agreed, ruling that any monetary bond to keep her in the country would be a weak incentive to stay, and saying she had the means to leave Canada if she wanted.
The details of the evidence or the guarantees Porter was willing to offer the tribunal must be withheld due to the publication ban.
Mattock Porter's next scheduled court appearance is July 3 to set a date for a preliminary hearing, which may take place in the fall.
The pair left Canada last year for the Bahamas, and in February Quebec's anti-corruption task force issued warrants for Arthur Porter and several other people associated with building the MUHC superhospital.
Several other people were arrested and charged in connection with the alleged $22.5-million bribe offered to Porter in exchange for the $1.3 billion contract to build the MUHC.
Former SNC-Lavalin president Pierre Duhaime, vice-president Riahd Ben Aissa, businessman Jeremy Morris and Porter's assistant Yanai Elbaz, have all obtained bail in exchange for amounts between $50,000 and $100,000.
Last month the Porters were arrested while in Panama and Canada demanded their extradition. Mattock Porter chose to return, but her husband is still in Panama, with lawyers arguing he has diplomatic immunity.
Arthur Porter is the only suspect outside of Canada. He faces charges of breach of trust, defrauding the government, accepting bribes and money laundering. He is in a Panamanian jail, fighting a deportation order to Canada.
Porter’s lawyer Ricardo Bilonick Paredes said his client is doing as well as can be expected during his detention.
Bilonick Paredes said Porter has been taking medication to treat cancer, but Panamanian officials will not allow his doctor to see Porter, claiming he has no licence to practice medicine in Panama.
Bilonick Paredes said his clent's court dates have been postponed several times but he expects to file a habeas corpus by Friday on behalf of Porter and his wife.
In the filing, he will contend Panamanian authorities had no right to detain and then arrest the couple because they were not officially in Panama.
He also claimed he has documents from both Sierra Leone and St Kitt's stating Porter was on his way to an official visit to St Kitt's as the ambassador at large for Sierra Leone.
Bilonick Paredes also said he intends to file a human rights case with the United Nations on behalf of the couple.
As for the extradition process, Canadian officials have 60 days from the date of the arrest to provide all the proper documents.
A decision will be made once Panama's minister of foreign relations receives the material.
Porter will then have 15 days to file a motion to oppose the extradition.
