OTTAWA — Senator Raymond Lavigne, who was kicked out of the Liberal caucus last year over allegations that he misused office funds for personal gain, is now facing criminal charges in the affair.

The RCMP announced Tuesday that it has laid charges of fraud over $5,000, breach of trust and obstruction of justice. Lavigne is due to appear in court Sept. 18.

Allegations of misconduct were first raised in 2005, when neighbours complained that one of Lavigne's office staff had cut down trees on their property. That discovery led to assertions that Lavigne had ordered the staffer to carry out personal business unrelated to Senate duties, and that Lavigne himself had misappropriated Senate funds for his own use.

A Senate committee that looked into the affair referred the evidence it found to the RCMP a year ago, and the Mounties had been investigating since.

Lavigne was turfed from the Liberal caucus last August, but continues to hold his seat in the upper chamber. His lawyer said last year that Lavigne had agreed to pay back $23,000 to the Senate but added that didn't constitute an admission of wrongdoing.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion offered a terse response Tuesday to the news that charges had been laid, noting only that Lavigne is no longer a Liberal and observing that he'll leave the matter to the courts from here on.

The 61-year-old Lavigne, a native Montrealer, was elected three times to the House of Commons and served a total of nine years in that chamber. He was appointed to the Senate in 2002 by then-prime minister Jean Chretien.