SNC-Lavalin’s offices in Montreal.Mario Beauregard/The Canadian Press
Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has hired a top-ranking officer from Quebec's provincial police as part of its anti-corruption measures amid ongoing police investigations into its activities.
Insp. Lino Maurizio, until recently a key player in the Sureté du Québec's anti-organized-crime fight, is now working for SNC, spokeswoman Lilly Nguyen said on Thursday.
SNC and several other Quebec engineering and construction firms are being investigated for alleged corruption and collusion activities in the province's construction industry in the early 2000s.
SNC also faces investigations into alleged bribery and corruption abroad.
Several former SNC executives – including former chief executive Pierre Duhaime – have been charged over various allegations. In Mr. Duhaime's case, Quebec police allege he and former colleague Riadh Ben Aissa acted to defraud the McGill University Health Centre in the winning of a $1.3-billion contract to build a Montreal superhospital.
The company's new CEO, Robert Card, is spearheading a cleanup of SNC's internal operations and strengthening its ethics, reporting and governance policies.
He is also working to restore SNC's reputation, close out troubled contracts and reposition the company along its core engineering and construction activities.
SNC is still waiting to get clearance from the provincial securities regulator to be allowed to bid for public contracts in Quebec valued at more than $10-million.
The green light can only be given after an investigation by the province's anti-corruption unit – UPAC – and the SQ is completed.
Bertrand Marotte