Arthur Porter/Photo from Motor City Muckraker
Arthur Porter, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, died Tuesday in custody in Panama City while awaiting extradition, the Montreal Gazette reports. He was 59.
Porter, who had been charged in one of the largest corruption and fraud investigations in Canadian history, was awaiting extradition to Canada from Panama where he was being treated for lung cancer at Instituo Oncologico Nacional hospital. He had been arrested in Panama in May 2013 and was under armed guard at the hospital, the Montreal Gazette reported. His extradition had been put on hold while his lawyer challenged his detention.
Porter, former head of McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, was one of nine people accused of defrauding the health center in an alleged scheme that investigators say allowed an engineering firm, SNC-Lavalin, to win a $1.3-billion contract to build the McGill superhospital, according to the Montreal Gazette. He was the hospital administrator from 2004 to 2011. Before that, he headed up the DMC from 1999 to 2003.
The paper reported that Porter helped construction of the hospital get approved by the provincial government after years of delays.
The Gazette writes:
It’s not clear how Porter’s death will affect the investigation into the alleged bid-rigging conspiracy in which $22.5 million in bribes by former SNC-Lavalin executives was suspected to have been paid to Porter.
