Bribery allegations cost relative of ousted Tunisia’s president Canadian refugee status

Share

Four years after he fled to Montreal, a relative of Tunisia's ousted president lost his bid to gain refugee status in Canada, because of allegations that he was involved in a bribery scheme involving foreign companies seeking public contracts in the North African country.

The Immigration and Refugee Board said it rejected Belhassen Trabelsi's application after looking at evidence that included contracts found in his safe deposit box in Switzerland, handwritten notes seized by the RCMP and large sums of money wired to one of his friends, a Montreal businessman.

"The panel is of the opinion that there are serious reasons for considering that the claimant, Belhassen Trabelsi, committed serious non-political crimes," the IRB said in a 35-page decision. The board said it believed Mr. Trabelsi had committed fraud, fraud on government and laundering of proceeds of crime.

The Jan. 30 ruling was only made public Monday after parts of it had been redacted.

Mr. Trabelsi says his life is in danger if he is sent back to his native land. He landed in Montreal in January, 2011, days after his brother-in-law, Tunisian president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, was overthown.

Mr. Trabelsi once had permanent-residency status, but it was revoked because he did not spend enough time in Canada. He then applied for refugee protection.

The IRB ruling focused on the relationship between Mr. Trabelsi and a friend, a Montreal real-estate promoter who was at the airport to greet the Tunisian when he arrived with his family in a private plane. The friend faces no criminal charges and his name was redacted in the IRB ruling.

The ruling noted that Mr. Trabelsi is the president of a Montreal holding company, Gestion Tucan Inc., while his friend also had a holding company, Construction et gestion Nevco.

The government alleged that Mr. Trabelsi "received substantial bribes" from a French multinational company through intermediaries, in particular the friend. The ruling said the friend signed a number of consultancy agreements in connection with public contracts in Tunisia, even though "Nevco had no obvious expertise in the area."

Evidence from a foreign law-enforcement agency shows that the French multinational – its name was redacted – wired about €2.4 million to Nevco.

The foreign agency considered that "the consultancy agreement between Nevco and [the multinational] was a sham used to facilitate the payment of a bribe to the claimant for the purpose of obtaining, or influencing the process for granting … contracts in Tunisia," the IRB ruling said.

The IRB said Mr. Trabelsi's safe deposit box in Switzerland contained documents such as contracts dealing with Nevco and a Dutch company, and a memorandum of understanding between a Chinese company and a Canadian company concerning a call for tenders. Mr. Trabelsi told the tribunal he was storing those papers for his friend.

"The panel does not find this explanation credible or plausible … unless the claimant had a stake in these contracts or business agreements, he would not have had copies of them in his safety deposit box," the IRB said.

The tribunal also noted that Mr. Trabelsi's BlackBerry had contact information for a number of senior executives of the multinational, including the directors allegedly responsible for Tunisia. Mr. Trabelsi said that he didn't know those people and that his mobile phone had been synchronized by an assistant.

The IRB rejected Mr. Trabelsi's claims because "the claimant had a copy of the contract in his safety deposit box, and … this contract pertained to his close friend and business partner in Canada, who had no obvious experience in the area and who obtained a number of commissions from [the multinational] for contracts in Tunisia…"

The evidence against Mr. Trabelsi also included a handwritten note seized by the RCMP at his residence, the ruling said. The IRB said the note asked, "Can Switzerland request extradition?" and "What is Nevco's legal position in this situation?"

Mr. Trabelsi would have to apply to the Federal Court for permission for judicial review if he wants to challenge the IRB decision. The claims of his wife and four children will be reviewed in a separate IRB proceeding.