COPENHAGEN -- Swedish officials charged an employee of Bombardier's rail division on Friday, accusing him of bribing a public servant in Azerbaijan to win a contract for a new signalling system with a contract value of around US$340 million.

Swedish prosecutor Thomas Forsberg said Evgeny Pavlov -- an employee of Bombardier Transportation Sweden AB --faces up to six years in jail and deportation if found guilty.

Pavlov's lawyer, Cristina Berger, has previously said that her client says he is innocent.

Sweden held Pavlov in March, saying it wanted to prevent him from fleeing or tampering with evidence. Emails seized during a search of Bombardier's offices in Sweden in October 2016 are considered evidence in the case.

Forsberg told The Associated Press on Friday that the Azerbaijani officials received rewards for having favoured the Bombardier contract.

He added more employees with the Swedish branch of Bombardier were still being investigated in relation to the same case.

In 2013, Bombardier (BBDb.TO) was part of a consortium awarded a US$288 million contract to supply signalling equipment for a 503-kilometre rail corridor connecting Asia and Europe to Azerbaijan Railways. Bombardier then said it was its "first major signalling contract in Azerbaijan."

A trial date has not been set yet.