Transparency International Canada welcomes the outcome of the trial against former SNC Lavalin executive Sami Bebawi. Mr. Bebawi was found guilty for his role in paying bribes to obtain contracts in Libya during the regime of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
A Quebec Superior Court jury found Mr. Bebawi guilty on five counts including fraud, corruption of a foreign official and money laundering.
This case is the seventh conviction for bribery of foreign official since Canada passed the Corruption of Foreign Bribery and Public Officials Act (CFPOA) in 1999 as a response to ratifying the OCED’s Anti-Bribery Convention.
In 2018, Transparency International’s ‘Exporting Corruption’ report, which assesses compliance with the Anti-Bribery Convention, showed that Canada had fallen since the previous report from Moderate to Limited enforcement.
“This conviction is demonstration that Canada will uphold its anti-corruption laws,” said TI Canada Executive Director, James Cohen, “but we still need to see more commitment from the government for resources to take on complex cases and prioritize anti-corruption as well as from Canadian companies to mitigate their exposure to corruption overseas”.
Mr. Bebawi’s conviction comes at the end of year that saw a national dialogue about Canada’s role in fighting and perpetuating corruption overseas. Canada needs to continue enforcement of its ant-corruption laws and Canadian companies can no longer see corruption as part of an accepted business model in certain countries.
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For media please contact:
James Cohen
Executive Director
Transparency International Canada
416-488-3939
ti-can@transparencycanada.ca
*Correction: The original press release, posted on December 15, incorrectly stated Bebawi’s conviction is the fifth conviction in Canada. It is the seventh. The three individual convictions in the Cryptometrics case were incorrectly counted as one conviction.