MONTREAL, March 26 (UPI) -- The chairman of Canadian construction firm SNC-Lavalin said an internal investigation failed to locate $56 million in unauthorized funds.
"We haven't been able to get to the bottom of this as to where the money went," said Chairman Gwyn Morgan.
"If we can determine ways of recouping the money on behalf of the shareholders, we'll do that," he said, the National Post reported Monday.
The engineering and construction giant also said Chief Executive Officer Pierre Duhaime had stepped down after the internal review said Duhaime authorized payments requested by a former executive, who had ties to former Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
The executive, Riadh Ben Aissa, allegedly requested the funds from the company's chief financial officer and the chairman of subsidiary SNC-Lavalin International Inc. When they both turned him down, he went to the CEO, who authorized the payments.
"The matter was brought to the CEO, who authorized or permitted (Ben Aissa) to make payments through his division. While the CEO thought he had the authority to do so, he should have confirmed his authority but did not," the company's report said.
The investigation began as the company tried to track down $35 million in payments made in the fourth quarter of 2011 that were billed against one project, but used elsewhere. It was later discovered that $22.5 million in other payments in 2010 and 2011 were billed against various projects, but not used for the purposes the company had authorized.
Ben Aissa left the firm in February and was not available to help solve the mysteries, the newspaper said.
The firm said Ian Bourne, who has served as a senior executive in several firms and has been director of SNC-Lavalin's Audit Committee and member of its Health, Safety and Environment Committee since 2009 will serve as the vice-chairman and interim CEO.
