Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with then-Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould during a swearing-in ceremony in 2015 (ADRIAN WYLD)

Ottawa (AFP) – Canada’s prime minister on Thursday denied reported accusations that his office pressured a former attorney general to abandon a prosecution of one the world’s top construction and engineering firms, SNC-Lavalin Group.

“The allegations reported in the story are false,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“At no time did I or my office direct the current or previous attorney general to make any particular decision in this matter.”

The Globe and Mail newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trudeau’s office attempted to pressure then-attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the case, but she refused to ask prosecutors to settle with the company to avoid a costly trial.

The Montreal-based firm, which operates in more than 160 countries, was charged in 2015 with corruption for allegedly bribing officials in Libya between 2001 and 2011 to secure government contracts during former strongman Moamer Kadhafi’s reign.

SNC-Lavalin’s former president and senior executives were previously accused of fraud, and the World Bank banned it from bidding on projects.

The company has said those responsible for alleged wrongdoing left the company long ago, and warned that holding it accountable for criminal actions of former employees would severely hurt its business.

According to The Globe and Mail, SNC-Lavalin lobbied the government, including senior officials in Trudeau’s office, for an out-of-court settlement that would include paying a fine and agreeing to put in place compliance measures.

But prosecutors refused to negotiate such a deal, and the trial is set to proceed.

The Criminal Code was amended last year to allow for so-called “deferred prosecution agreements.”

Opposition leader Andrew Scheer accused Trudeau of firing Wilson-Raybould “for refusing to heed his demands” and of not being transparent by sticking to a “carefully-crafted legalistic answer.”

Wilson-Raybould, who was minister of justice at the same time as she served as attorney general, was shuffled to the veterans affairs portfolio last month.

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