Scammer
Banned
The mastermind behind one of Canada's largest frauds is about to be released after 16 months in jail.
Vincent Lacroix, the founder of the Norbourg trust fund, swindled $115 million from 9,200 investors. He will receive his conditional release from prison next Thursday after serving the mandatory one-sixth of his sentence.
Lacroix will only be fully released, with parole conditions, in February 2014.
Investors were duped in a scam that saw money from a Norbourg trust fund diverted by Lacroix for personal use.
In September 2009, Lacroix was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to 200 fraud-related charges.
The charges involved fraud, forgery, conspiracy and profiting from the proceeds of crime.
Lacroix served a previous jail term after being convicted in a civil court case in 2007 for related securities violations.
In its decision, the Parole Board of Canada had a message for Lacroix: "It's reasonable and necessary for you to concentrate on community work … centred on altruism and contribution to society."
"You must always deepen your social conscience and move yourself away from materialistic values," read the board's two-page decision.
At the height of the Norbourg scandal, financial experts called for the creation of a fund to compensate victims of fraud and negligence by advisers.
Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand expressed interest in the idea earlier this week.
The victims are expected to receive compensation from several quarters, including Quebec's securities regulator, bankruptcy proceedings, and Revenue Quebec.
