Defendant in MUHC fraud trial seeks to have charges tossed

One of the defendants in the McGill University Health Centrefraud trial what one investigator called "the biggest case of corruption fraud in Canadian history" is seeking to have charges against him tossed, based on theJordan ruling.

Yohann Elbaz is one of five defendants in the case.He's facing several charges, including fraud and money laundering.

The Crown alleges top executives from SNC-Lavalin paid a $22.5-million bribe to MUHC senior administratorsto secure the $1.3-billion contract to build the MUHC'sGlennsuperhospital.

Yohann Elbazis a lawyer and the brother of Yanai Elbaz, a former MUHC executive also charged in the case.

Elbaz's lawyer, Walid Hijazi, filed a motion requesting a stay of proceedings based on unreasonable delays during a pretrial conference in Quebec court Wednesday.

"I consider delays in this file to be extremely long. Mr. Elbaz was arrested in April 2013. He got his trial date just today," Hijazi said.

Hijazi will present his arguments in court Nov.15.

The Jordan ruling,issued by the Supreme Court of Canada in July 2016,imposed new deadlines on the justice system to avoid unreasonable trial delays.

Provincial court trials must now be wrapped up within 18 months up to 30 months, if there is a preliminary inquiryand trialsat theSuperior Court facea 30-month deadline.

• Criminal trial delays drop dramatically in Quebec a year after Jordan ruling
• 'Failing everyone': 204 cases tossed over delays since Supreme Court's Jordan decision

Trials set for late 2018, early 2019

Along with theElbazbrothers, the other defendants in the case areformerSNC-Lavalinexecutives, ex-CEO Pierre Duhaime, Riadh Ben Aissa and Stphane Roy.

Arthur Porter, the former CEO of theMUHC, was also facing charges in the case before his death from cancer in 2015.

At the time, Porter was in jail in Panama, where he was fighting extradition to Canada to face the charges.

• Arthur Porter, ex-McGill hospital CEO accused in $22.5M kickback scheme, dies in Panama
• Charges officially abandoned against Arthur Porter, two years after his death

Porter's wife, Pamela Porter,pleaded guilty in late 2014to two counts of laundering the proceeds of crime and was sentenced to 33 months for her role in the alleged bribery scandal connected to thesuperhospitalproject.

YohannElbazand Stphane Roy are each having separate trials.

YanaiElbaz, Pierre Duhaime and Riadh Ben Aissa are being tried together, whileYohannElbazand StphaneRoy will each have separate trials.

A judge set dates for all three trials Wednesday.

Yohann Elbaz's trial is set to run from October 2018 to December 2018, while Roy's trial is set to run from October 2018 to January 2019.

The trial for Duhaime, Ben Aissaand YanaiElbaz is set for January 2019 and is expected to last eight months.