“What did the President know and when did he know it?” That is the iconic question from the Watergate Hearings asked by Senator Howard Baker of various witnesses. In the case of the Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC), it appears that its chief executive knew something was amiss and had known so for quite some time.

In an article in the March 27, 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), entitled “Big Builder’s Chief Resigns”, reporters Caroline Van Hasselt and Satish Sarangarajan detailed the ongoing turmoil at SNC. In an article in the New York Times (NYT), entitled “Chief of Canadian Firm Steps Down After the Inquiry”, reporter Ian Austen reported that the chief executive of the firm, Pierre Dunhaime, resigned on Monday, March 26, after the “release of a report indicating that he had authorized that $56 million in improperly documented payments to unidentified agents.” The WSJ reported that the company “still had unanswered questions about the payments and had referred the matter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP]…”