More than 10 years after being described as the “central figure” in an elaborate and lucrative sponsorship kickback scheme, a man once close to ex-prime minister Jean Chretien was convicted on three fraud-related charges.

A jury found Jacques Corriveau, 83, guilty on Tuesday after a trial in which the Crown alleged he pocketed $6.5 million by using his firm to defraud Ottawa in contracts awarded during the sponsorship program.

Crown prosecutor Jacques Dagenais suggested the prospects of recovering the entire sum from the former federal Liberal organizer are slim.

“Less than $1 million, excluding his residence, has been found,” Dagenais told reporters after the guilty verdicts were handed down.

Both the money and the home will be the subject of confiscation requests when sentencing arguments take place, he added.

The crimes occurred during the sponsorship program, which was intended to increase the federal government’s presence in Quebec after the No side’s slim victory in the 1995 sovereignty referendum.