MONTREAL—A key figure in the international corruption probe into engineering firm SNC-Lavalin has reached a deal to plead guilty to charges in Switzerland — a development that could hasten his extradition to face justice in Canada.

The office of Switzerland’s attorney general said in a statement Monday that it reached a deal with Riadh Ben Aïssa on Aug. 4 that would see the former executive of the Montreal-based firm plead guilty to several charges in exchange for a reduced sentence.

“The accused — and the plaintiff — have agreed to the indictment. The defendant is presumed innocent until the judgment of the federal court,” said Jeannette Balmer, a spokesperson for the Swiss attorney general’s office.

The CBC, citing Swiss reports, said the Swiss courts are expected to rule on the deal in October. If accepted it could see Ben Aïssa serve three years in prison, meaning he could be extradited by next April to Canada, where he is facing additional corruption charges.

Ben Aïssa has been in a Swiss prison since 2012 on suspicions that he laundered money and paid kickbacks to members of the former Libyan regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi in exchange for privileged access to government work for SNC-Lavalin.

Since his arrest, reports have emerged of Ben Aïssa’s close ties to Saadi Gadhafi, the Libyan dictator’s son.

When the dictatorship was toppled in the 2011 Arab Spring, Ben Aïssa is alleged to have arranged to have Saadi Gadhafi smuggled out of Libya to safety in Mexico.

Allegations of Ben Aïssa’s illegal dealings with the Libyan dictator’s son are the highest profile of several bribery and bid-rigging claims against the engineering giant around the world.

The company is currently banned for a decade from bidding on World Bank projects after charges it bribed officials in Bangladesh in order to win a bridge-building project and there because of a kickback scheme in Bangladesh. Another high-profile investigation into the company’s activities is underway in Algeria.

In Canada, Ben Aïssa is charged in connection with an alleged $22-million bribery scheme that investigators believe secured SNC-Lavalin’s bid to build the McGill University Health Centre’s new hospital in downtown Montreal.

Payments to former MUHC head Dr. Arthur Porter, who is awaiting extradition in Panama, were allegedly funnelled through a company created by Porter in the Bahamas.

His co-accused include former SNC-Lavalin chief executive Pierre Duhaime and several others.

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