Jean Brault was the president of Groupaction, a Montreal advertising firm founded in 1982. Brault and his firm were implicated in the Canadian Federal Sponsorship scandal. Along with civil servant Chuck Guité he was charged by the RCMP with fraud relating to the scandal. In April 2005, Brault made national headlines when he testified before the Gomery inquiry. In his testimony he claimed that Groupaction funneled over $1-million to the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada in exchange for sponsorship contracts. In September 2005, Guité and Brault pleaded not guilty to six charges of fraud. However, on March 2, 2006, Brault changed his mind and decided to plead guilty to five of six fraud-related charges. The former head of Groupaction admitted to paying salaries to Liberal party workers who never did any work for his company. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and was granted a full parole after five months. Brault is expected to go to trial again on a conspiracy charge.
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