Former SNC exec imprisoned 8½ years
FRAUD, CORRUPTION
Criticizing the “institutional corporate greed” existing within SNC- Lavalin at the time, a Superior Court judge has sentenced former executive Sami Bebawi to an 8½-year prison term.
Bebawi, 73, was found guilty in December of the five fraud and corruption charges he faced in connection with the firm’s dealings in Libya.
In delivering Bebawi’s sentence Friday, Superior Court Justice Guy Cournoyer emphasized how corruption at such a high level undermines the public’s trust in institutions and the law.
Quoting from a previous judgment rendered in Alberta, Cournoyer recalled that a Canadian company bribing a foreign official is an embarrassment to all Canadians and hurts the country’s international relations.
Bebawi served as SNC- Lavalin’s executive vice- president from 2000 to 2006. A jury found him guilty of five charges in mid- December, including fraud, corruption of foreign officials and laundering proceeds of crime.
During the trial, the jury heard he was behind what the Crown described as a “business model” that involved kickbacks and payoffs to foreign agents to secure lucrative deals in Libya as of the late 1990s.
The case centred on several major infrastructure projects and dealings with Saadi Gadhafi, one of the sons of late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Prosecutors presented evidence that SNC- Lavalin transferred about $ 113 million to shell companies used to pay off people, including Saadi Gadhafi, who helped the company secure deals.
Bebawi pocketed $30 million for himself through the corruption.
The Crown had argued Bebawi should receive a nine- year prison term. The defence had argued for a sixyear prison term.
In his decision, Cournoyer listed the sophisticated nature of the fraud, the level of premeditation and Bebawi’s “insatiable greed” as aggravating factors in the case.
The Crown is also seeking to have Bebawi ordered to pay a fine, but those arguments will be heard at a later date.
Bebawi arrived at the Montreal courthouse with family and a suitcase prepared for his time in prison.
Handcuffed and led toward detention, he briefly looked back at his daughter.
In a separate case, a division of SNC- Lavalin Inc. pleaded guilty last month to one charge of corruption for its dealings in Libya. The firm was sentenced to pay a $ 280- million fine over a five-year period and to three years of probation.