The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is not investigating allegations of political interference in the federal processing of criminal charges against engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. An assessment of these allegations had determined that the evidence was insufficient to conclude a criminal offence.
In a statement released on Monday, the RCMP set the record straight after a recent response to a public interest group’s freedom of information request suggested the RCMP was conducting such an investigation. .
In 2015, SNC-Lavalin Group and two of its subsidiaries, SNC-Lavalin Construction and SNC-Lavalin International, were charged with bribery of a foreign public official and fraud arising from business transactions in Libya.
SNC-Lavalin had unsuccessfully pressed the director of prosecutions to negotiate a special settlement – known as a remediation agreement – over fears the company could be barred from federal contracts for a decade if convicted of charges criminals.
At the beginning of 2019, the daily Globe and Mail reported that aides to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lobbied Jody Wilson-Raybould, who was federal justice minister at the time, to secure a deal that would avoid prosecution.
Mme Wilson-Raybould resigned from the cabinet a few days later and was subsequently ousted from the Liberal caucus.
The federal ethics watchdog concluded in August 2019 that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act in the way he handled the matter.
File closed
In a written response to questions from The Canadian Pressthe National Police said its Sensitive and International Investigations Unit had conducted an assessment regarding the alleged interference.
“As part of this review, the RCMP consulted and gathered information from a variety of sources, and investigated the matter in the most thorough, objective and professional manner,” the police force said.
“After a full and impartial assessment of all available information, the RCMP determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a criminal offense and the file has been closed. »
This finding was also communicated to the original complainant in a letter in January.
Under an agreement announced in December 2019, SNC-Lavalin Construction pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud over $5,000, agreeing to pay a fine of $280 million and be subject to a probation order of three years. The remaining charges were stayed.