Jurors sequestered at Jacques Corriveau fraud trial in Montreal
MONTREAL — The fate of a man once described as a “central figure” in the federal sponsorship scandal was placed in the hands of a jury Thursday as deliberations began in Jacques Corriveau’s fraud trial.
Earlier, the trial judge told the eight men and four women on the jury they must decide whether the ex-federal Liberal organizer knowingly used his influence to secure himself millions of dollars in kickbacks between 1997 and 2003.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Francois Buffoni told them in his final instructions they must wade through the evidence carefully.
Corriveau, who was a close associate of ex-prime minister Jean Chretien and worked on his Liberal leadership campaigns, is charged with fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.