DHAKA: Zulfiquar Ali Bhuiyan, 48, accused of conspiring with employees of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. to bribe Bangladeshi officials and help the company for contract of Padma Bridge, surrendered on Tuesday to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) national division.

Mr. Ali Bhuiyan, a dual Bangladeshi-Canadian citizen, was charged by the Mounties in September with violating Canada’s foreign bribery law, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, reports the globe and mail.

He returned to Canada on the weekend to fight the charge, his lawyer Frank Addario said after a brief court hearing on Tuesday that resulted in Mr. Ali Bhuiyan being released on bail.

Zulfiquar was the fifth person to be charged by the RCMP in connection with the suspected corruption plot, which has thumped the Padma bridge project that was designed to link the underdeveloped southwest portion of Bangladesh with the capital, Dhaka.

The Padma bridge project has been called a “steel lifeline” by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, whose development agency withdrew a $1.2-billion loan after bribery allegations first surfaced.

Three employees of SNC-Lavalin have already been charged under Canada’s foreign bribery act, including a former senior executive, Kevin Wallace. Two other former SNC employees who worked under Mr. Wallace, Ramesh Shah and Mohammed Ismail, have also been charged. The fifth individual sought, Abul Hasan Chowdhury, is a Bangladesh-based lobbyist.

BDST: 1342 HRS, DEC 04