MONTREAL - An influential former Quebec union boss has been found guilty of fraud and forging documents stemming from inflated expense claims.
Jocelyn Dupuis was accused of charging the Quebec Federation of Labour for tens of thousands of dollars in expenses by using fake or inflated bills.
Quebec court judge Denis Lavergne found him guilty on Friday of all the charges he was facing.
The charges related to claims made between December 2007 and November 2008, a period in which Dupuis filed 43 expense accounts totalling $225,000.
During the trial, provincial police witnesses testified that 144 bills were suspect, representing more than $63,000.
Of those, half were fake bills with no verifiable transaction record available, police said.
The other half were allegedly inflated, with investigators having tracked down original receipts they said were far less than what was billed for.
The majority of the expenses were for lavish restaurant meals and expensive bottles of wine.
Dupuis had suggested the inflated expenses were for the benefit of the workers he represented.
Some former colleagues testified they approved of his practices because Dupuis often paid union expenses out of pocket.
His lawyer argued there was no fraud and no malice and that the amounts he received ultimately made their way back to the membership.
Dupuis was a key leader in the labour federation's construction wing, serving as director-general between 1997 and 2008.
