SNC-Lavalin, criminally accused of paying kickbacks to renovate the Jacques-Cartier Bridge 25 years ago, can get away with paying a fine of nearly $30 million.
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This will allow it to continue to have public contracts with the governments of Canada and Quebec.
Norman Moran, accused
The engineering and construction giant was charged with government fraud, forgery, fraud and conspiracy in September 2021.
Two of its former directors, Norman Morin and Kamal Francis, have also been arrested and charged in connection with this investigation called Agrafe 2.
They were to offer sums of up to $2.23 million to former CEO of the Federal Bridge Company, Michel Fournier, between 1997 and 2004.
tentative agreement
However, last September, the Director of Criminal Prosecutions and Criminal Prosecutions (DPCP) proposed to SNC-Lavalin inc. and SNC-Lavalin International to negotiate a fine, which would allow companies to continue to receive public contracts.
Today, the DPCP announced that a preliminary agreement has been reached with SNC-Lavalin and will be submitted to the Supreme Court on May 10.
This agreement provides for SNC-Lavalin and SNC-Lavalin International to pay a lump sum of $29,558,777 over 3 years.
For the agreement to be valid, it must be approved by a judge.
The Crown declined to comment further today, “due in particular to confidentiality obligations under criminal law and orders issued by the Supreme Court during the early stages of the approval process.”
Job Protection
In September, SNC-Lavalin was pleased to be the first Canadian company invited to negotiate such an agreement.
This will allow it to “continue its activities and protect the jobs of its more than 30,000 employees, while preserving the interests of its customers, investors and other stakeholders,” she said.
Remember, bribes could have been paid as part of a $128 million contract to repair the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, in the early 2000s.
The company claims it has revised its internal policies since the events, and established a “culture of integrity”
In this case, Michel Fournier was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017.
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