BY KEITH LACEY
One of the most anticipated criminal trials in this city?s history might not take place here.
Lawyers for Pierre Montpellier, the former Sudbury financial adviser who is accused of bilking more than 100 clients of more than $6 million, are in the process of preparing for a change of venue application.
Sudbury lawyer Glenn Sandberg, who is defence counsel for Montpellier along with Hamilton-based lawyer Norm Williams, confirmed Friday he and Williams have spent the past several weeks preparing for the change of venue application.
No date has been set for the hearing. Montpellier, who has been in custody at the Sudbury District Jail for 26 months since his arrest, is scheduled to go on trial in early May.
?We?re in the process of trying to schedule dates for the change of venue application,? said Sandberg. ?The difficulty is when you have a number of parties, it?s not always easy to get everyone?s schedule co-ordinated.
?A bunch of dates have been forwarded to the trial co-ordinator and we?re trying to find a schedule that will suit defence counsel, the Crown and the court.?
Sandberg wouldn?t divulge the reasons why he?s seeking a change of venue application, but he?s stated in the past he believes it would be difficult to find an impartial jury in this community because this is such a high-profile case.
Just because defence counsel for Montpellier would like the trial - which is expected to last up to three months - to take place outside of Sudbury, it doesn?t mean they will be successful, said Sandberg.
?That?s totally up to the presiding judge who hears the motion,? said Sandberg. ?That being said, we feel we have very strong arguments for why this trial should not be held in this jurisdiction.?
If they are successful in their court application, Sandberg said he and Williams hope Montpellier?s trial would be heard in Toronto.
?That seems like the best logical place,? he said. ?The key investigators work not far from there in Orillia and it?s relatively close to Sudbury.?
Montpellier has twice been denied bail and has been in custody since his arrest in early November 2001. He remains in good spirits and confident his name will be cleared following a trial he looks forward to getting underway in May, said Sandberg.
?He?s not doing too badly at all considering all of the circumstances,? he said.
Montpellier was arrested by Canadian police officers in England in late October 2001.
Montpellier, 41, faces 302 charges-151 of fraud over $5,000 and 151 of theft over $5,000-after allegedly stealing close to $6 million from 108 investors between 1995 and when he left Sudbury for England in late 1998.
Montpellier was a licensed mutual fund and limited market dealer operating a company known as Montpellier Group Inc. in Sudbury from 1995 until his departure.
During the same time period Montpellier incorporated Foreign Capital Corp. as an investment vehicle to raise money from investors to be used in international investments, say police.
At the time of his arrest Montpellier had been working overseas for a London employment agency as a recruiter, matching clients with jobs.
After a lengthy police investigation, Montpellier was arrested in England and arrived back in Canada Nov. 1.
Montpellier was denied bail by a Justice of the Peace and then an experienced Superior Court of Justice judge
following a bail review.
