The first of more than 30 investors has given evidence against the managing director of collapsed Jersey-based IFA firm Lumiere Wealth.
In a trial that is expected to last six weeks, Chris Byrne is facing 18 charges, all of which he denies.
According to an article by the Bailiwick Express, a widow in her late 70s, who has not been named, claimed she lost £600,000 (€672,406, $765,315) because her money was invested by Lumiere, without her knowledge, in a high-risk Providence factoring scheme.
Further, the widow claimed Byrne tried to trick her into giving him £1m through making her sign an unsecured personal loan agreement.
She said she trusted Byrne because she had known him for a considerable amount of time. Byrne had advised her from when he worked at a local bank and had continued to do so after he set up Lumiere Wealth.
She claimed she knew nothing about the high-risk investment Byrne had made with her money, stating she made it clear she wanted “no risk, not low risk”, according to the Bailiwick Express report.
It was also claimed she was not told Providence was a major shareholder in Lumiere.
Cross-examination
Under cross-examination the defence produced two risk assessment documents that had been signed by the widow, despite her claims that she had never seen such a document, which matches clients with suitable products.
She admitted it was possible that Byrne had gone through them with her.
Despite having denied Byrne had spoken to her about low-risk investment, a police statement signed by the widow contradicted this claim.
In closing the cross-examination, the advocate for Byrne said the widow knew her Prudential investment of £1m was bringing in 2%, however she wanted to make more money.
Byrne told her there was an investment option with a return of 14%, but it was only open to him.
The widow denied this scenario of events.
The trial continues on Thursday.
