A former SNC-Lavalin official at the heart of a Liberal scandal five years ago has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison — this time in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.The RCMP announced on Wednesday that former SNC executive vice-president Normand Morin was sentenced to 42 months in prison in relation to an investigation dubbed Project Agrafe dating back to the early 2000s..The investigation found that bribes totalling $2.3 million were paid by SNC executives to secure a $128 million contract to repair the Jacques-Cartier Bridge that runs between Montreal and Longueil.The offences occurred between 1997 and 2004. In 2017, Michel Fournier, former CEO of the Federal Bridge Corporation, admitted to receiving the bribes through Swiss bank accounts and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years.He has since received full parole..In November 2018, Morin pleaded guilty to charges of violating Canada's election financing rules through an elaborate scheme that sent more than $117,000 to the federal Liberal and Conservative parties and to individual candidates, including $110,000 to the Liberal Party..In 2022, SNC — now known as AtkinsRealis — agreed to pay the Quebec government nearly $30 million to settle criminal bribery charges related to bridge work in the province.Morin was a key figure in the 2019 SNC scandal that saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allegedly intervene to prevent company officials from being charged with fraud and corruption related to work contracts in Libya.That in turn resulted in the dismissal of then-Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould who refused to drop the charges allegedly at Trudeau’s request.In November 2018, Morin pleaded guilty to charges of violating Canada's election financing rules through an elaborate scheme that sent more than $117,000 to the federal Liberal and Conservative parties and to individual candidates, including $110,000 to the Liberal Party.
