The RCMP has laid out its first allegations of bribery in the sponsorship scandal, stating in a court document that an advertising firm offered kickbacks to long-time bureaucrat Chuck Guité, including free cosmetic surgery for his wife.
According to a previously undisclosed search warrant, the RCMP raided a clinic in the Montreal area in 2008, obtaining medical records, invoices and before-and-after pictures of Lucile Chatel Guité.
For the first time, the search warrant shows the RCMP has uncovered allegations of gifts and payments to Mr. Guité and his wife that go well beyond the evidence heard in 2004 and 2005 at the Gomery inquiry, which probed the mismanagement of Ottawa’s efforts to increase its visibility in Quebec in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The document also offers a unique look at an ongoing investigation into senior officials at plugged-in advertising firm Groupe Everest, which received $55-million in sponsorship contracts. While the RCMP and Quebec provincial police have laid fraud charges against the presidents of the other major advertising firms involved in the scandal, the Groupe Everest probe has not produced any visible results.
However, the document reveals the Mounties have conducted a number of raids and dozens of interviews with witnesses, and have recommended the laying of 73 charges against at least two former officials at the firm, in relation to alleged fraud of $1-million.
The RCMP confirmed on Tuesday that its investigation is over and the file has been provided to Crown prosecutors in Montreal. None of the allegations in the search warrant have been proven in court.
Before he retired in 1999, Mr. Guité was the top bureaucrat in the sponsorship program, working hand in hand with senior Liberal officials such as Alfonso Gagliano and Jean Pelletier. Mr. Guité was charged with fraud in 2004 and found guilty at trial in relation to his dealings with another advertising firm, Groupaction Marketing Inc.
Diane Deslauriers, former Gruope Everest official, testifies at the Gomery commission in April, 2005.— Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
The RCMP launched a distinct investigation into Groupe Everest in 2005 and heard allegations of payoffs to Mr. Guité and Ms. Chatel Guité from two former assistants of senior Groupe Everest official Diane Deslauriers.
According to the former employees, Ms. Deslauriers spoke openly of the benefits she offered to Mr. Guité and Ms. Chatel Guité, including fishing trips, plane tickets, expensive winter coats and wine.
Former employee Sophie Lavoie alleged Ms. Deslauriers “was never shy” to speak in front of her “about compromising stories,” including the allegation Ms. Chatel Guité received a nose job and surgery on the bottom of her face from Ms. Deslauriers.
“On one occasion, Diane Deslauriers is the one who brought Lucile Chatel Guité to the plastic surgery clinic and went to pick her up after the operation,” Ms. Lavoie told the Mounties.
According to Ms. Lavoie, Ms. Deslauriers and Ms. Chatel Guité were not friends. “The bribes were given in order to favour the awarding of contracts to Groupe Everest,” the warrant said.
One of the surgeries was conducted on April 25, 1997, the RCMP said. That day, Groupaction president Jean Brault had a breakfast meeting with Mr. Guité, at which point he saw Ms. Chatel Guité leave with Ms. Deslauriers.
Records from that day show there were a total of 13 calls made between the phones of Mr. Guité, Ms. Deslauriers and the Notre-Dame cosmetic surgery clinic.
A month later, when Mr. Brault saw a number of people involved in the sponsorship program, he “did not recognize Lucile Chatel,” the RCMP said in the warrant.
The RCMP also obtained accounting documents and cheques alleging that Groupe Everest and Ms. Deslauriers’ company made five payments totaling $32,600 to Ms. Chatel Guité between 1996 and 1999.
Ms. Deslauriers is the spouse of former Groupe Everest president Claude Boulay, and both of them were active in the Liberal Party during the days of the sponsorship program, from 1996 to 2003. Ms. Deslauriers was identified at the time as the “the queen of the ticket-sellers for cocktail parties and fundraising dinners” for the Liberal Party.
Asked about the surgery in a short interview on Tuesday, Mr. Guité said: “There was nothing done there,” before adding, “what was done, my wife paid for it.” Ms. Deslauriers rejected the allegations in the search warrant as “not true,” although she acknowledged knowing Ms. Chatel Guité.
Groupe Everest has already settled a lawsuit with the federal government, reimbursing $1-million to taxpayers in sponsorship money.
With a report from Ingrid Peritz in Montreal
Other investigations
The RCMP has referred the results of its investigation into advertising firm Groupe Everest to the office of the Crown prosecutor in Montreal. So far, the RCMP and the Quebec provincial police have arrested the presidents of other major advertising firms involved in the sponsorship scandal:
- Jean Lafleur, president of Lafleur Communication Marketing, was sentenced to 48 months after pleading guilty to a $1.5-million fraud.
- Groupaction Marketing Inc. president Jean Brault received 30 months after pleading guilty to fraud in relation to contracts worth $1.6-million.
- Gilles-André Gosselin, president of Gosselin Strategic Communications, got 24 months plus a day in relation to $655,000 in fraud.
- Paul Coffin, president of Communication Coffin, received an 18-month sentence in relation to fraud of $1.5-million.
