Crown wants proof exiled doctor is actually dead
MONTREAL— Two investigators with Quebec’s anti-corruption squad will go to Panama to make sure Arthur Porter, wanted in Canada on fraud charges, is actually dead, the head of the unit said Thursday.
Robert Lafrenière said his office has received “no official confirmation” from Panamanian authorities about reports the well-known doctor died of cancer this week.
“It seems to us essential and a priority to rapidly obtain proof so we can take the appropriate steps regarding the charges of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering (Porter) is facing,” Lafrenière said in a statement.
The Crown alleges Porter received part of a $22.5-million payment from Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin in order to fix the call for tenders to ensure the firm received the lucrative $1.3-billion contract to build a mega-hospital in Montreal.
Porter’s biographer, Jeff Todd, published a statement Wednesday to say Porter’s doctor confirmed his patient had succumbed to cancer in Panama, where he had been detained since May 2013 as he fought extradition to Canada.
On Thursday, Todd published a second statement, reportedly from Porter’s family, confirming the death.
Giroux said a post on a website is “really not enough.”
She added her office has started preparing an official request to receive proof of Porter’s passing, such as a death certificate signed by a doctor.
In 2004 Porter was appointed director general of the McGill University Health Care Centre in Montreal and led the project to build the socalled superhospital near the city’s downtown core.
Porter’s wife, Pamela Porter, was sentenced in December to 33 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts of money laundering in connection with her husband’s case. She was given a conditional release from prison on June10.
Others accused in the bribery and fraud case are awaiting trial.