By Allison Lampert
2 MIN READ
MONTREAL, July 2 (Reuters) - Canadian anti-corruption police in the province of Quebec on Thursday raided the Montreal and Quebec City offices of engineering firm BPR Inc., a subsidiary of California-based Tetra Tech Inc.
A spokeswoman for Quebec’s anti corruption force, which goes by the French acronym UPAC, said police were looking for evidence during an ongoing investigation. Anne-Frederick Laurence said about 60 police officers were participating in the raid, but declined to give further details about the investigation.
On its Canadian website, BPR confirmed the presence of UPAC officers and said it intended to help “advance the investigation.”
A spokesperson for Tetra Tech, which bought BPR in 2010, could not be reached immediately for comment.
Canadian media reported the officers are searching for evidence in connection with BPR’s involvement in a C$355 million ($282.58 million) water management contract awarded by Montreal in 2007 but canceled two years later following a critical report by the city’s auditor general.
A scandal involving that contract was one of several events that led to the creation of a 2011 public inquiry into corruption and collusion in the construction industry in Canada’s predominately French-language province.
$1 = 1.2563 Canadian dollars Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and W Simon Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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