The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is not investigating allegations of political interference in the state’s handling of criminal charges against engineering firm SNC-Lavalin. An assessment of these allegations showed that the evidence was insufficient to conclude that a criminal offense had been committed.

In a statement released Monday, the RCMP set the record straight after a recent response to a public advocacy group’s request for freedom of information suggested the RCMP was conducting such an investigation.

In 2015, SNC-Lavalin Group and two of its subsidiaries, SNC-Lavalin Construction and SNC-Lavalin International, were charged with bribery of a foreign official and fraud related to business transactions in Libya.

SNC-Lavalin had unsuccessfully urged the chief prosecutor to negotiate a special cleanup — a so-called bailout agreement — fearing the company could be barred from federal contracts for a decade if convicted of felonies.

The daily newspaper in early 2019 globe and mail reported that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s aides had lobbied Jody Wilson-Raybould, then Attorney General, to secure a deal that would avoid prosecution.

M^Me Wilson-Raybould resigned from Cabinet a few days later and was subsequently ousted from the Liberal faction.

The federal ethics watchdog concluded in August 2019 that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Conflict of Interest Act by the way he handled the matter.

file closed

In a written response to questions from The Canadian Pressthe National Police said its Sensitive and International Investigations Department had conducted an assessment of the alleged interference.

“As part of this review, the RCMP has consulted and gathered information from various sources and investigated the matter in the most thorough, objective and professional manner,” police said.

“After a full and impartial assessment of all available information, the RCMP concluded that there was insufficient evidence to establish a criminal offense and the file was closed.”

This finding was also communicated to the original complainant in a letter in January.

Under an agreement announced in December 2019, SNC-Lavalin Construction pleaded guilty to one count of $5,000 in fraud and agreed to pay a $280 million fine and three years’ probation. The remaining charges have been dropped.

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