Jury selected at fraud trial of Jacques Corriveau, key figure in sponsorship scandal
Corriveau, 83, was charged in 2013 with fraud, counterfeiting documents, money laundering
The jury has been selected at the fraud trial of a man who made headlines during the federal sponsorship scandal.
Jacques Corriveau, 83, is a former longtime federal Liberal organizer and a one-time close ally of ex-prime minister Jean Chretien.
The charges laid against him in 2013 are fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.
His trial is expected to last about six weeks and the Crown says it will call about 20 witnesses.
The Mounties allege Corriveau set up a kickback system on contracts awarded during the sponsorship program and used his Pluri Design Canada Inc. firm to defraud the federal government.
The program was intended to increase the federal government's presence in Quebec after the No side's slim victory in the 1995 sovereignty referendum.
The Gomery Commission, which looked into the program, found that firms were winning contracts based on donations to the federal Liberals, with little work being done.
Corriveau testified in 2005 at the inquiry, which led to the demise of the Liberals' hold on power.
Corriveau was a very close friend of Chretien and worked on his campaigns.
According to the RCMP, Corriveau was at the heart of a kickback scheme in which he used his influence with the government to help communications firms in Quebec to obtain federal government contracts.
In return, Corriveau received several million dollars' worth of advantages or benefits for himself and others, the RCMP said at the time.
The scandal led to the creation of the commission, led by retired Justice John Gomery, which examined the management of the sponsorship program.
During the Gomery Commission, Corriveau was described as a linchpin of the kickback scheme.
With files from CBC News