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MONTREAL — A Quebec judge has ruled there is enough evidence to send SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. to trial on charges of fraud and corruption, surprising few and prompting a further tumble in the beleaguered firm’s share price.

“Given the threshold to be met by the prosecution at the stage of the preliminary inquiry, this outcome was expected,” said SNC-Lavalin chief executive Neil Bruce in a statement.

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The company has previously pleaded not guilty and Bruce said that “we will vigorously defend ourselves to get the right outcome and be acquitted.”

The Montreal-based engineering and construction giant is accused of paying $47.7 million in bribes to public officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011. The company, its construction division and a subsidiary also face one charge each of fraud and corruption for allegedly defrauding various Libyan organizations of $129.8 million.

Judge Claude Leblond’s decision, which is subject to a publication ban, is the latest step in criminal proceedings that began last fall after SNC-Lavalin failed to secure a deferred prosecution agreement, a kind of plea deal that would have seen the firm agree to pay a fine rather than face prosecution.