A story in the Toronto Star reveals new details flowing from French investigators regarding the widely reported SNC bribery scandal that led to a ten year World Bank ban and to charges against two former SNC senior officials:
A newly revealed French probe into suspected bribes paid by Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin has shed new light on accusations of wrongdoing against two of the company’s former executives.
An audit at the company’s European headquarters in France last spring uncovered a mysterious $13.5-million payment that was made to look like it was tied to a Middle East gas-plant project.
But a spokesperson for SNC-Lavalin says it is not a new case of wrongdoing. Instead, the firm has identified the money as a portion of the $56 million in improper payments that led to the dismissal of its chief executive and head of construction last year.
“It’s a new revelation, if you like,” said Leslie Quinton. “It’s a detail that the public didn’t know about before, but it’s still start of the same issue.”
Former chief executive Pierre Duhaime and executive vice-president of construction Riadh Ben Aissa are facing criminal charges for allegedly using a portion of that $56 million as bribes to secure a contract to build a new mega-hospital in Montreal.
The new revelations underscore the serious reputational, legal and business risks faced by institutions when their senior officials commit procurement-related ethical improprieties.
