Eight years after being accused of a huge fraud with international ramifications, a former SNC-Lavalin executive still escapes prison and will be able to continue living in his luxurious condo until his death… even if he doesn’t. no longer belongs to him.
Sentenced to eight and a half years in prison and a fine of nearly $25 million, Sami Bebawi is enjoying these days the magnificent view offered by his condo located in the Tropiques Nord complex, a stone’s throw from Habitat 67, to Montreal.
Archival photo
The Tropiques Nord complex, where Bebawi lives in Montreal, is known for its indoor exotic garden.
The fallen businessman is currently appealing his conviction and the fine imposed on him in 2020.
Bebawi also had to deal with Revenue Canada and Revenue Quebec, which claimed a total of $28 million from him. The provincial tax authorities had also taken a legal mortgage of $ 11.5 million on his condominium in 2019.
But our Office discovered that Bebawi made a series of transactions to continue living in the luxury of his condo, which he bought for $860,000 in 2016.
No rent
Bebawi first took out a mortgage with a New Brunswick businessman, Marc-Louis Girard, in March 2021.
A few months after granting the mortgage, Girard took over the keys to the condo as part of a voluntary surrender. On the same day, he granted a right of use to Sami Bebawi for the next 25 years or until his death.
According to the notarized documents, Bebawi does not have a penny to pay in rent apart from the payment of insurance. Immediately after this transaction, Revenu Québec’s legal hypothec on the condominium was lifted.
At the same time, the two Revenue Agencies accepted Bebawi’s proposal to pay only one of the $28 million they were claiming.
Not to mention that Bebawi made other maneuvers to transfer assets to his ex-wife and children (see other text below).
He slams the door
Met by our Bureau of Investigation in his condo last week, he refused to explain himself.
“I owe you no explanation,” he said curtly before telling us to leave, slamming the door violently.
Marc-Louis Girard did not call back our Investigation Office.
Recall that Sami Bebawi was found guilty of fraud, bribery of a foreign public official and laundering the proceeds of crime. He and another former SNC executive, Riadh Ben Aissa, paid $127 million in bribes to grease the leg of Saadi Gaddafi, the son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was assassinated in 2011.
Photo archives, AFP
SNC-Lavalin has paid millions in bribes to Saadi Gaddafi (photo), the son of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
” [Bebawi] himself knew how to profit handsomely from this deception by pocketing no less than $28,903,503,” wrote Judge Robert M. Mainville, who suspended the fine pending the end of the appeal proceedings.
Sami Bebawi’s case must return to court within two weeks for the follow-up to its appeal procedure. If he wins, he will be able to continue living in his condo while awaiting a possible new trial, otherwise prison awaits him.
– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois
Millions to his ex-wife and children
Sami Bebawi has multiplied the steps in accounts in tax havens to try to camouflage the millions illegally pocketed.
Between 2001 and 2011, the millions passed through two companies, Dinova and Duvel, which served as a screen for the former executive of SNC-Lavalin.
From 2012, when the police raided the headquarters of SNC Lavalin and the Swiss authorities arrested his accomplice Riadh Ben Aissa, Bebawi carried out several transactions.
Many residences
- He first transferred $24 million to Egypt. A condo worth $600,000 was seized by the Egyptian authorities.
- He transferred large sums of money and gave his Outremont home to his wife, Marie-Claude Duhamel, from whom he separated in 2015. The latter had $1.8 million seized in 2019 by Revenue Quebec, or the fruit of the sale of this house, according to La Presse.
File photo, Sotherby’s
In 2014, this luxurious residence on Stanley Street in Montreal, owned by Sami Bebawi’s trust, was given to his wife.
Ms. Duhamel had not finished with the tax authorities, because Revenue Canada has just registered in early October 2022 a legal mortgage of $ 1.3 million on her condo in the Villeray district of Montreal.
- Bebawi also transferred nearly two million to his children. The authorities have also obtained blocking orders against several properties belonging to the latter. One of his sons, Adam, paid $970,000 last year to the Canadian government, which agreed to lift the order against his house on boulevard Desaulniers, in Saint-Lambert.
Photo Jean-Louis Fortin
This house in Saint-Lambert belonging to a son of Sami Bebawi has been the subject of a blocking order for almost ten years.
- According to Bebawi’s statements in court, he also invested nearly $14.5 million in Dubai, which would have melted away in just a few years. He also claims to own a residence in Egypt worth $1.3 million and another in Saint-Martin worth $1.2 million.
Archival photo
Sami Bebawi on the construction site of a residence he had built in Cairo, Egypt, before his arrest.
$25 million fine
In September 2020, a few months after Bebawi’s criminal conviction, Judge Guy Cournoyer estimated that the former SNC-Lavalin executive had the means to pay nearly $25 million in fines within six months. Failure to pay would result in an additional ten years in prison. This decision is however suspended pending the appeal of his sentence.
In addition, a total of $4 million has been blocked by authorities, including a condo worth over $1 million in Clearwater, Florida.
1999
After selling his company, Geracon, for $9.6 million, Sami Bebawi becomes president of Socodec, the construction subsidiary of SNC-Lavalin
2001 to 2006
Bebawi forges ties with the Libyan regime of dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He retired from SNC-Lavalin in 2006.
Until 2011
Duvel and Dinova companies are used to bribe Muammar Gaddafi’s son. In total, SNC-Lavalin will pay $127 million. Millions are also diverted into the coffers of companies linked to Bebawi and Riadh Ben Aissa, his successor at SNC-Lavalin.
2012
Riadh Ben Aissa is arrested by the Swiss authorities for corruption. In the following weeks, Sami Bebawi transfers millions to Egypt and to a family trust.
2014
After an investigation involving 46 police officers from the RCMP and other countries, Sami Bebawi is charged with five counts, including fraud, bribery of a foreign public official and laundering the proceeds of crime.
2014-2015
Bebawi divides his time between Dubai and Egypt. He finally surrendered to Canadian authorities in February 2015.
2019
Bebawi was found guilty of five counts after a few months trial before a jury. A few days later, the SNC-Lavalin construction subsidiary pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud and agreed to pay a fine of $280 million over five years.
2020
On January 10, Sami Bebawi was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison. In September, a judge condemns him to pay a fine of nearly $25 million in addition to the seizure of $4 million in real estate. He is appealing both decisions.
2021
The former SNC executive sells his condo to a New Brunswick businessman. In return, he can use the premises without paying rent for the next 25 years, or until his death.