By Keith Lacey
After hearing three days of evidence, Justice Ian Gordon said Monday he wanted time to review all the information before deciding whether or not Pierre Montpellier should be granted bail.
Gordon will fax his decision to assistant Crown attorney Diana Fuller and defence counsel Norm Williams before the end of the week.
Gordon ordered a ban on publication of evidence presented at the bail review hearing.
Montpellier, 40, is the former Sudbury financial adviser accused of bilking former clients of between $6 million and $7 million between 1995 and the time he left Sudbury in 1998.
Fuller told the court Montpellier should be denied bail because he's a strong flight risk, the Crown's evidence against him is "very strong" and releasing him would put the administration of justice into question.
Williams argued Montpellier didn't realize an expansive police investigation had been launched against him when he left Canada for England in 1998.
He should be released as he's presumed innocent until proven guilty and there are a number of sureties willing to watch him, provide employment and risk their own money until Montpellier is ready to stand for trial, said his lawyer.
The Crown's insistence Montpellier is a strong risk to flee to another Canadian city or leave the country is also strongly presumptious and shouldn't be considered, said Williams.
Montpellier has already shown he's willing to put himself "beyond the reach of the law" in 1998 and it took a three-year police investigation to track him, arrest him and return him to Canada, said Fuller.
Montpellier, 40, faces 302 charges - 151 of fraud over $5,000 and 151 of theft over $5,000 - after allegedly stealing investments from 108 investors.
Montpellier was a licenced mutual fund and limited market dealer operating a company known as Montpellier Group Inc. in Sudbury from 1995 until his departure.
If bail is granted, it's expected Gordon will impose very harsh conditions on him, including house arrest when he's not working.
If bail is denied, Montpellier is expected to spend several more months in custody as this case involves thousands of pages of documents and a three-year police investigation.
