France24 news
written by AFP staff
Tuesday May 28, 2013
The former head of a Montreal hospital has been arrested in Panama on fraud charges, Quebec officials said.
Arthur Porter is suspected of receiving a kickback from Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin after it landed a $2.4 billion to build a new hospital.
Porter and his wife Pamela were arrested in Panama on a warrant issued by Interpol.
Porter is accused of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and other crimes, the UPAC anti-corruption unit said Monday.
News reports say SNC-Lavalin paid out $22 million to win the contract to build a new McGill University Health Center.
Porter, a respected businessman in Quebec, resigned abruptly in 2011, and was later traced to the Bahamas.
He owns a clinic there. The reasons for his presence in Panama were not immediately known, as in March he said he was fighting cancer.
UPAC was created in 2011 after a series of corruption cases involving the assignment of public works contracts in Quebec.
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