Gilles-André Gosselin answers a question during his testimony before the Gomery commission in 2005 in Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)

A former high-ranking ad executive who was involved in the federal sponsorship program is facing criminal charges.

Nineteen criminal charges, including fraud, will be filed against Gilles-André Gosselin, who headed Gosselin Communications.

The Gomery commission found that his Ottawa-based company handled $21 million of sponsorship contracts, which earned the agency $1.4 million in commissions and $8.2 million in production costs.

As well, the company was awarded two advertising contracts with a value of $1.5 million, which enabled it to pay salaries and bonuses of $3.3 million to Gosselin, his wife and his son, the commission report stated.

But the report also stated there were "many instances of improper invoicing" and that the "agency regularly billed [the Public Works Department] for hours which had not been worked."

When he testified before the Gomery commission in spring 2005, Gosselin admitted that his company had billed the federal government for working the equivalent of 10 hours a day, seven days a week.

A number of people involved in the federal government's sponsorship program, which ran from after the 1995 Quebec referendum until 2003, have been found guilty and sentenced to jail for their roles in the scandal.

The public inquiry led by Judge John Gomery found that millions of dollars, earmarked for the program and related projects, went instead to Liberal-friendly ad agencies in exchange for little or no work.