Sami Bebawi was SNC-Lavalin’s executive VP from 2000 to 2006.
Sami Bebawi, the executive VP for SNC-Lavalin between 2000 and 2006, has been found guilty on all counts by a Montreal jury.
As reported by the Montreal Gazette, Bebawi had been charged with fraud, bribing a foreign public official, and laundering the proceeds of crime.
Bebawi had also been charged with two counts of possessing property that was obtained by crime.
The foreign official Bebawi was charged with bribing was Saadi Gadhafi, the son of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The jury found him guilty on all those charges.
Here’s an excerpt from the Montreal Gazette report:
“Throughout the trial, the Crown positioned Bebawi as the man behind what it described as SNC-Lavalin’s “business model” in Libya: paying millions in kickbacks and bribes to keep obtaining lucrative contracts.
“The company adopted an unusual, unlawful and dishonest practice,” Crown prosecutor Anne-Marie Manoukian told jurors in her closing arguments, “by artificially inflating the prices of contracts, paying bribes and misappropriating money for personal gain.”
A forensic accountant who analyzed SNC-Lavalin’s financial statements testified the firm transferred more than $118 million to Swiss bank accounts tied to a shell company. That company had been established by Bebawi’s subordinate in Libya, Riadh Ben Aissa.
“The amounts went in and out almost on the same day,” Sophie Déry told jurors. “It was an account used only as an extra layer when distributing money.”
Of that money, the Crown argued, Bebawi pocketed nearly $30 million. The millions were transferred into his and his uncle’s bank accounts.”
SNC-Lavalin had also agreed to buy Gadhafi a yacht valued at $25 million.
Jurors also heard evidence that Bebawi had offered the crown’s key witness Ben Aissa a $10 million bribe to change his testimony.
Bebawi remains free until sentencing.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
