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The charges stem from the alleged activities of former employees in Libya from over three years ago. The company said that it firmly considers that the charges are without merit and will vigorously defend itself.
The company was informed last week that federal charges have been laid by the Public Prosecution Service of Canada against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc, SNC-Lavalin International Inc and SNC-Lavalin Construction Inc. Each entity has been charged with one count of fraud under section 380 of the Criminal Code of Canada and one count of corruption under Section 3(1)(b) of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act.
“The charges stem from the same alleged activities of former employees from over three years ago in Libya, which are publicly known, and that the company has cooperated on with authorities since then,” said SNC-Lavalin Group president and CEO Robert Card. “Even though SNC-Lavalin has already incurred significant financial damage and losses as a result of actions taken prior to March 2012, we have always been and remain willing to reach a reasonable and fair solution that promotes accountability, while permitting us to continue to do business and protect the livelihood of our over 40,000 employees, our clients, our investors and our other stakeholders.”
While the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the RCMP have selected this as the next formal step in this three-year old investigation, there is no change to the company’s right and ability to bid or work on any public or private projects, said the company.
SNC-Lavalin said that, over the past three years, it has made significant changes to the company and remained focused on continuous improvements in ethics and compliance. “The tone from the top is clear and unequivocal; there is zero tolerance for ethics violations,” it said. “The individuals alleged to have been involved in past ethical issues are no longer with the company, and a new CEO has changed the face of the executive team.”
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