Canada's corruption scandal strikes Trudeau months before elections

Jody Wilson-Raybould He testified before the Parliament's Justice Committee, which is investigating the alleged interference of senior officials in the engineering giant's fraud suit. SNC-Lavalin, a case that triggered a political storm barely eight months before the elections.

"Between September and December 2018, many members of the government made consistent and sustained efforts to try to politically interfere in the exercise of fiscal discretion to enter into a settlement agreement. deferred treatment with SNC-Lavalin. "said Wilson-Raybould.

He also said he was confronted with "veiled threats" and suggestions from the Secretary of the Privy Council of Canada that "a conflict with the Prime Minister should be avoided in these cases".

And she added that she thought that in January she had been transferred from the Justice Ministry to another portfolio for refusing to intervene in this case.

During weeks the Trudeau government was shaken by accusations that undue pressure was exerted on the former Attorney General for a settlement with SNC-Lavalin.

The Montreal firm was accused in 2015 of corruption for alleged bribes in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts while Muammar Gaddafi was in power.

The company, its international arm and another subsidiary are accused of offering C $ 47 million ($ 36 million) bribes to officials and cheating $ 130 million Canadian. ($ 98 million) to the Libyan government.

The company claimed that those responsible for the alleged irregularities had left the scene long ago and that holding it responsible for its criminal acts would seriously undermine its business.

Trudeau categorically denied any direct involvement, claiming that she had clearly explained to Wilson-Raybould that any decision in the case "like the Attorney General was her only", which she confirmed in her testimony.