OTTAWA – The Canadian Judicial Council says it will hold an inquiry into allegations of illegal political financing levelled against Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Deziel.

The allegations were made by a witness at the Charbonneau Commission in May 2013.

The council said today a review panel of three judges has decided to hold an inquiry.

Details will be made public in the coming weeks.

The council said in a statement the allegations are serious enough that they may warrant Deziel’s removal from office.

Deziel was a lawyer at the time he allegedly assisted in an illegal political financing scheme at the municipal level in 1997.

The allegations made at the corruption inquiry by witness Gilles Cloutier have not been proven.

Cloutier said Deziel organized the 1997 election campaign for the incumbent mayor of Blainville.

He testified that Deziel summoned him to his office, handed over $30,000 and told him to find people to pose as donors who would contribute $750 each.

Cloutier, who worked for Roche Engineering Inc., said he was told the money, which consisted of $100 bills in a white envelope, came from rival firm Dessau Inc.

Deziel was named a Superior Court justice in November 2003.