Trial of Tony Accurso, charged in alleged Mascouche corruption scheme, gets underway in Joliette

The trial of construction magnate TonyAccurso, accused ofprice-fixing and riggingcontracts in the city of Mascouche, is now underway at the Joliette courthouse.

According tocourtdocuments,Accurso, 66,is charged with:

• One count of influencing a municipal official using illegal means between 2005 and 2012.
• One count of breach of trustbetween 2006 and 2008.

Crown prosecutor Pascal Grimard told the 12-person jury in his opening remarks that he will prove there was corruption in Mascoucheand that Accurso tried to influence formerMascouchemayorRichardMarcotte in order to obtain lucrative contracts.

The prosecution will call 12 witnesses and plans to present evidence that confirms Marcottespent timeon Accurso's yacht in SaintThomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, and didn't pay for his trips.

Grimard said he will also prove Accurso used Swiss bank accounts to transfer money to Marcotte.

The Crown will also present receipts, flight itineraries and bank statements, the prosecutor said.

He told the jury members they will need to be patient because there will be a lot of documents presented, and the trial won't be like ones seen cases on TV shows.

Travel agent testifies

The Crown's first witness, travel agent Sylvie Vachon, testified Accurso was a longtime client.

She said she booked trips for Accurso, Marcotte and Normand Trudel to St. Thomas.

Thetravel agent told the court that one of the trips booked on Accurso's account was a trip to the Bahamas for Marcotte.

Accurso,MarcotteandTrudel were arrested along with 11 others in April 2012 on fraud-related charges.

Marcotte died of cancer in 2016, before his trial began.

In January 2017, Trudel pleaded guilty to participatingin a scheme in whichlucrative municipal contracts were awarded in exchange for political funding to benefitMarcotte.

Vachon saidAccurso's trips were usually paid by American Express card or by cheque, often through his company,Simard-Beaudry.

Sometimes, Vachon told the court, flight tickets were sent directly to Trudel at Accurso's request.

• TonyAccursosees some charges dropped in Mascouche fraud case

Last year, Accurso tried to have the charges stayed, arguing his case was takingtoo long to get to trial, but his request was turned down.

He was initially charged with fraud against the municipality, conspiracy to commit fraud, helping a public officialcommit breach of trust andattempting to influence city officials in the case. The fraud-related charges were dropped.

The trial willbe presided over by Quebec Superior Court Justice JamesBruntonandis expected to last six weeks.