Corruption: SNC-Lavalin could get away with a $30 million fine

SNC-Lavalin, criminally charged with paying kickbacks to renovate the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, could get away with a fine of nearly $30 million.

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The engineering and construction firm was charged with government fraud, forgery, fraud and conspiracy in September 2021.

Two of its former managers, Norman Morin and Kamal Francis, were also arrested and charged as part of this investigation called Agrafe 2. They allegedly offered sums totaling $2.23 million to former Federal Bridge CEO Michel Fournier, between 1997 and 2004.

However, the Director of Criminal Prosecutions and Criminal Prosecutions (DPCP) suggested to SNC-Lavalin Inc. and SNC-Lavalin International negotiated a fine that would allow companies to continue to receive public contracts.

On Friday afternoon, the DPCP announced that a preliminary agreement had been reached with SNC-Lavalin and that it would 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 on Friday afternoon “in particular due to confidentiality obligations set forth in the Criminal Law and orders issued by the Supreme Court during the early stages of the approval process.”

Remember, bribes could have been paid as part of a $128 million contract to repair the Jacques-Cartier Bridge, in the early 2000s.

In this case, Michel Fournier was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017.