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Jury hearing Jacques Corriveau’s fraud case receives final instructions Thursday

Oct 25, 2016 | 2:45 PM

MONTREAL — The fraud trial of longtime Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau is expected to be in the hands of the jury by Thursday.

Corriveau, 83, a former close ally of ex-prime minister Jean Chretien, faces three charges that were laid in 2013: fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.

Two days worth of final arguments wrapped up Tuesday.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Francois Buffoni told jurors he will give them final instructions on Thursday morning before they are sequestered.

Corriveau did not take the stand at the trial, which began in mid-September.

The Mounties alleged 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.

He was a very close friend of Chretien and worked on his campaigns.

The Canadian Press