Elections Canada has laid charges against four senior Conservative officials for violating election laws during the 2006 vote, CTV News has learned.

The charges, which were filed in an Ontario court on Wednesday, centre on allegations that the Conservatives exceeded their national advertising expenses by $1.3 million, CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Thursday night.

It's alleged that the party improperly reported the shared expenses of 67 candidates. The charges are not criminal ones, but a guilty verdict could result in a $1,000 fine or three months in jail, or both.

The four Conservatives facing the charges are:

• Sen. Doug Finley, a former campaign manager
• Sen. Irving Gerstein, a chief party fundraiser
• Michael Donison, the party's former executive director
• Susan Kehoe, a senior Conservative staffer

The Conservatives say they are fighting the charges in court. The party and Elections Canada have been locked in a long-running conflict over expenses and spending limits.

"We're disappointed that administrative charges have been laid by Elections Canada after losing in federal court and not waiting for the appeal court decision in this matter," a senior Conservative official told CTV News.

The elections agency alleges that the Conservatives used a so-called "in-and-out" scheme to exceed the spending limit based on rebates on expenses that had not actually been incurred.

With files from The Canadian Press