The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has announced the sentencing of Normand Morin, a former senior vice-president at SNC-Lavalin, to three and a half years in prison. Morin’s conviction stems from his involvement in a bribery scheme related to a bridge repair contract in Montreal.
The investigation conducted by the RCMP revealed that executives from SNC-Lavalin, now known as AtkinsRéalis, paid bribes amounting to $2.23 million to secure a $128 million contract to repair the Jacques-Cartier Bridge deck in the early 2000s. In connection with this scheme, Michel Fournier, the former CEO of the Federal Bridge Corp., admitted to receiving the bribes through Swiss bank accounts from 1997 to 2004. Fournier was subsequently sentenced to five and a half years in prison and has since been granted full parole.
In 2022, SNC-Lavalin reached an agreement with Quebec to pay nearly $30 million over three years to resolve criminal bribery charges associated with the bridge project, which connects Montreal to Longueuil, Quebec. The charges stemmed from the company’s involvement in the scheme orchestrated by Morin and other executives.
