WATCH: Ex-Lumiere CEO found guilty of £2.7million fraud

Thursday 13 September 2018

A former financier has been found guilty of misleading a group of elderly, vulnerable and financially inexperienced clients in order to obtain £2.7million of their money, which he then invested in a high-risk fund and lost.

Christopher Paul Byrne (50), the former CEO of Lumiere Wealth Limited, will now face prison for the serious fraud.

Before Mr Byrne is sentenced he will be remanded in custody.

Mr Byrne denied all allegations that he had mislead his clients in order to get them to invest in the Providence Fund, but this afternoon he was found guilty of 15 charges brought against him.

Video: Ex-financier Christopher Byrne has been found guilty after losing £2.7million of his clients' money in a fund which turned out to be fraudulent.

The Court found that Mr Byrne persuaded his clients into investing in Providence even if it wasn't suitable for them by concealing information as to the risks involved as well as his own vested interest in the fund.

Mr Byrne was represented by Defence Advocate Olaf Blakeley who made an application for bail until his client was sentenced, but the Royal Court Commissioner Sir John Saunders and Jurats Charles Blampied and Robert Christensen refused and ordered for Mr Byrne to be remanded in custody.

The verdict came back this afternoon to a courtroom packed with members of the public, including some of Mr Byrne's former clients who had given evidence during the trial.

The month-long trial involved evidence from the Jersey Financial Services Commission and his former clients, which included an elderly French couple, a pensioner and a retired teacher.

A spokesperson for the JFSC, the island's financial regulator, said that the body was "aware and has noted the verdict of the trial", but was unable to comment any further until their own investigation into the matter is concluded.