Norbourg ex-head fails to block criminal charges

The man who made off with more than $100 million from thousands of investors in Norbourg Asset Management will face a criminal trial on fraud charges.

Vincent Lacroix's lawyer, Marie-Hélène Giroux, said Wednesday Lacroix will now act as his own legal counsel.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Richard Wagner dismissed a motion filed by Lacroix's lawyers to have the charges against him thrown out.

Giroux, had argued the securities violations of which he was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison overlap with the fraud charges he currently faces and would amount to double jeopardy, which is unconstitutional.

Wagner rejected those arguments in a hearing at the Montreal courthouse Wednesday morning, saying that there is a difference between securities violations and criminal charges.

Lacroix faces 200 charges for allegedly defrauding more than 9,000 investors.

He was found guilty of 51 securities fraud charges in December 2007 after being accused of siphoning $115 million from Norbourg accounts through 137 transactions.

Sylvain Théberge, a spokesman for Quebec’s securities regulator l’Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), welcomed the ruling.

"We are particularly satisfied with this decision … particularly for the victims that were waiting many years for the start of that criminal trial," said Théberge.

Lacroix could face further court battles

Following the ruling on Wednesday, Giroux said her client was considering whether to appeal the decision to proceed with the trial.

But, Giroux says her client "no longer has the means to afford a lawyer" for his trial. She has asked the court for permission to withdraw from the case. That motion will be heard on Friday.

Giroux pointed out Lacroix could face an appeal of his sentence on securities violations before the Supreme Court.

In January 2008, Judge Claude Leblond sentenced Lacroix to consecutive sentences that added up to 12 years in prison.

Lacroix argued this was disproportionate and appealed. Judge André Vincent of Quebec's Superior Court agreed and reduced Lacroix's sentence to 8.5 years but kept the consecutive sentencing in place.

Lacroix appealed again, this time to Quebec's Court of Appeal.

Last month, the Court of Appeal sided with the disgraced financial analyst. The court said both Leblond and Vincent erred in their decisions. The Court of Appeal said the law is clear: consecutive sentences are not allowed in security violation cases like the one against Lacroix.

Prosecutors say they would prefer Lacroix have legal representation for the criminal trial, which is expected to last four months.

Also on Friday, the court will hear another motion filed by Lacroix seeking to dismiss the case. He will argue that it will be impossible to find an impartial jury, because in the mind of the public he is already guilty of fraud.

Jury selection for the fraud trial is set to begin on Monday.