QUEBEC - Premier Jean Charest raised the possibility on Thursday of holding a public inquiry into the Quebec government's role in the Norbourg securities fraud.
The RCMP recently laid more than 900 new charges in the scandal that cost some 9,000 investors a total of $115 million.
Among those arrested on Wednesday was Jean Renaud, a bureaucrat in the Quebec Finance Department.
Responding to Opposition questions in the national assembly, Charest refused to rule out holding a public inquiry in the future.
"If after the trial there are some shadowy areas, then at that time we'll have the chance to make a decision," Charest said.
Norbourg's president, Vincent Lacroix, has already been convicted of securities violations and was sentenced in December to 12 years minus a day in prison.
But now Lacroix and five others, including Renaud, face a slew of new charges.
The latest people arrested will face charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, conspiracy to fabricate false documents, fabricating false documents, fraud, and money laundering.
The Mounties say the crimes allegedly took place between 2002 and 2005.
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