MONTREAL (Reuters) - An SNC-Lavalin Group (TO:SNC) division will plead guilty to a fraud charge related to projects in Libya after an agreement with prosecutors, La Presse reported on Wednesday, in a case that engulfed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government in crisis this year.
The Montreal-based construction and engineering company was accused of bribing Libyan officials to get contracts between 2001 and 2011. Shares in SNC were halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange early on Wednesday.
On Sunday, a Quebec jury found a former top SNC-Lavalin executive guilty of fraud and corruption charges related to the Libya case. Government prosecutors had suggested Sami Bebawi, the former head of SNC's international construction arm, was a key figure in the bribery scheme.
Quebec newspaper La Presse said on Wednesday that the company's SNC-Lavalin Construction unit will plead guilty in connection with the fraud charges.
The case will be halted against SNC-Lavalin itself, with Canadian prosecutors recommending a C$280-million fine and a three year probation, the newspaper said.
A court conviction would have barred SNC-Lavalin from bidding on government contracts for 10 years, threatening job losses in Canada. The company employs around 9,000 people in Canada and tens of thousands abroad.
Earlier this year, Trudeau’s government faced allegations that top officials pressured former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to direct prosecutors to strike a deal rather than go ahead with a trial.
Trudeau was re-elected with a minority government in October.
SNC had asked for a deferred prosecution agreement on the grounds it had removed the executives who were in charge at the time and overhauled its ethics and compliance systems.