Mr Audette -- a partner at the Montreal office of international law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin -- was arrested during a dawn raid along with 15 others from two engineering and construction companies. He faces six charges including fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, breach of trust, fraud on a government, and influencing a municipal official in Mascouche, a city north of Montreal.

Operation Gravel

Mascouche Mayor Richard Marcotte, Quebec construction business kingpin Antonio Accurso, and long-time Quebec Liberal Party organiser Louis-George Boudreault have also been charged.
The raid, dubbed ‘Operation Gravel’, was the result of an 18-month investigation which allowed authorities to ‘establish that a system had been put in place a few years ago allowing certain companies to gain an advantage towards the attribution of municipal contracts,’ said Quebec provincial police Lt. Guy Lapointe at a news conference.
‘As there is an on-going police investigation, the firm is unable to offer additional comment,’ Fasken said in a brief statement to acknowledge the arrest. Fasken added it ‘will co-operate fully with any inquiries by the Sûreté du Québec [the province’s police force].’
Those charged are scheduled to appear in court on 19 June.