Fraud trial for ex-deputy Quebec premier Nathalie Normandeau set for next April

The fraud-related trial for ex-deputy Quebec premier Nathalie Normandeau and five co-accused has been set for next spring.

Quebec court Judge Jean-Louis Lemay announced the date of April 9 at a preparatory hearing in Quebec City on Monday.

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Normandeau, 49, is charged with conspiracy, corruption, breach of trust and fraud in a scheme in which political financing and gifts were allegedly exchanged for lucrative government contracts between 2000 and 2012.

The Crown said earlier the trial could last at least four months.

Normandeauserved as a Liberal member of the legislature for a riding on the Gasp peninsula from 1998 to 2011 and held key cabinet positions as well as being deputy premier from 2007 to 2011.

She and her co-accused were arrested in March 2016.

Normandeau's lawyer said earlier this year the former cabinet minister maintains her innocence.

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