Controversial construction magnate Tony Accurso is back in court.
The man at the centre of the Charbonneau inquest is accused of bribing the former mayor of the north shore town of Mascouche in exchange for contracts.
In his opening statement, Crown prosecutor Pascal Grimard said that Accurso showered former Mascouche mayor Richard Marcotte with gifts and financial bribes that transited through Swiss bank accounts.
The Crown intends to prove that in exchange for these gifts, Accurso's companies won contracts between 2005 and 2012, including for a water treatment centre in Mascouche.
One of the first witnesses to testify was a travel agent who explained how Accurso made arrangements for Marcotte and his wife to have an all-expenses paid vacation in the Caribbean on Accurso's yacht, The Touch.
The agent testified that she personally booked Accurso's trip, along with guests, using the businessman's credit card
Accurso, Marcotte, and 13 others were arrested and charged in 2012. At the time Accurso was the head of a business empire that had revenues of $1.2 billion each year.
The Crown has since made arrangements for testimony from those who were working with the former mayor in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Marcotte, who was first tied to construction and collusion allegations in 2010, died of cancer in 2016.
