According to the documents, which were used by the RCMP to obtain a search warrant for a raid on SNC-Lavalin headquarters last spring, the company’s former head of construction, Riadh Ben Aissa, was responsible for funnelling the money to Saadi Gaddafi, the Post reported.
The 39-year-old son of the deceased Libyan leader is wanted by Interpol and has been granted asylum in Niger.
Some of the bribe money was allegedly used to purchase luxury yachts and even a condo in Toronto, La Presse reported.
Swiss authorities arrested Ben Aissa last April, alleging fraud and conspiracy, but have remained vague on the details.
But according to an email from an “anonymous insider,” obtained by the CBC, Ben Aissa "organized more than 300 million [dollars in] payments to shell companies acting as intermediaries between SNC-Lavalin and the Libyan government (ie the Gaddafi family)” since the early 1990s.
The RCMP documents also allege senior SNC executives were involved in a plot to smuggle Saadi Gaddafi out of Libya and into Mexico during Libya’s civil war in 2011.
Cynthia Vanier, a Canadian citizen and SNC employee, has been in a Mexican jail for more than a year, accused of aiding the smuggling plot. A judge will soon decide whether to send the case to trial or drop the charges against Vanier.
The documents allege former SNC vice-president of finance Stephane Roy was involved in the plot to smuggle Gaddafi to Mexico. Roy was forced out of the company last spring, as the arrests and allegations surrounding SNC-Lavalin’s activities were mounting.
The RCMP documents may shed some light on the arrest of former SNC-Lavalin CEO Pierre Duhaime, who was picked up by Quebec’s anti-corruption unit last fall on charges of fraud, conspiracy and use of false documents.
Duhaime resigned as CEO last spring, after an internal company audit found he had signed off on $56 million in questionable payments.
Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: The Huffington Post Canada
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