Former SNC-Lavalin execs in court in MUHC bribery case

The preliminary hearing in the fraud trial linked to the McGill Universitysuperhospital began Monday at the Montreal courthouse.

It was slated to cover seven of the accused, including former SNC executives Pierre Duhaime and RiadhBen Aissa.

But one of them,Yohann Elbaz,chose to forego the preliminary hearing and go straight to trial, while the Crown chose to drop one of the bribery charges against him.He is set to appear in court again on April 2.

The hearingfor the other six was delayedwhile the court room had to be rearranged to accommodate some of the accused and their lawyers.Three of those facing charges didn't appear in court.

• Who's who? McGill University hospital $22.5M bribery case
• Arthur Porter, ex-McGill hospital director, to be extradited
• Pamela Porter documents allege fraud, use of shell companies

Crown prosecutorMarie-Hlne Giroux said the preliminary hearing will likely last until early April.

"I'm trying to prove there's reasonablefoundation to the accusations and that they should all be committed to trial," Giroux said.

In total, nine people were charged with a range of counts including fraud, conspiracyand corruption.

The charges are in connection with alleged bribes used to secure theMUHCcontract for a consortium includingSNC-Lavalin.

A total of$22.5 million was allegedly paid toSNC-LavalinInternational and funnelled through shell companies to the former head of theMUHC, Arthur Porter,and his wife, Pamela Porter.

ArthurPorter isfacing charges but is fighting his extradition from Panama.

Giroux would not comment on the extradition process.

Pamela Porter pleaded guilty last December to two counts of money laundering.

SNC-Lavalin and the Quebec government are both seeking to recover money allegedly paid out in the bribery scheme.