The police are investigating bribes that a Canadian company allegedly paid to relatives of Muammar Gaddafi when the Libyan dictator was still in power. SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based construction giant, allegedly paid the equivalent of 32 million euros to Libyan officials until 2011.
A son of Libyan leader Saadi Kadhafi also reportedly benefited from these bribes. The case is making a splash in Canada, especially since a former Minister of Justice has just said that the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, lobbied her to prevent the company from being the subject of a trial for foreign agent bribery.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has been investigating for seven years a company that has led Pharaonic projects in Libya. SNC-Lavalin worked in particular on “ the large artificial river “ that Muammar Gaddafi had built to pump the tablecloths of the Libyan desert. To obtain these contracts, the Canadian construction giant would have made multiple gifts to the son of the Libyan Guide, Saadi Gaddafi. The company would have invited him to Canada many times. One of these trips would have cost the company more than one million euros, in expenses of any kind.
“ There was even the purchase of sex prostitutes, exotic dancers, pornographic movies … unorthodox spending for a publicly traded company in Canada, “ said Vincent Larouche, a journalist at La Presse.
Surprisingly, in this type of case, Canadian police would have got their hands on evidence. These are bills that Canadian bodyguards have produced for the money advanced for Saadi Gaddafi during his stays in Canada.
“ SNC-Lavalin hired a Canadian private security firm that hired bodyguards, which can reimburse expense reports that include shopping for prostitutes. All this was seized by the police, „says Vincent Larouche.
It remains to be seen whether the “ case “ will one day be the subject of a trial. According to a former Minister of Justice, the Prime Minister of Canada does not want to hear about it. Justin Trudeau denies.
