Disgraced Quebec financier seeks reduced fraud sentence

A Quebec judge will rule Friday whether a 12-year sentence imposed on former financier Vincent Lacroix is unreasonable and should be reduced.

Lacroix is currently serving his sentence for defrauding investors who parked their life savings in Norbourg Investments, the company he founded.

The sentence, handed down last January, is too harsh for the fraud charges that Lacroix was convicted on, according to Clément Montérosso, his attorney.

Quebec Judge Claude Leblond, who presided over Lacroix's fraud trial, failed to take a number of factors into account when deciding on a sentence, including the oversaturated media coverage, Montérosso argued on Friday.

Lawyers for Quebec's securities regulator say Lacroix's sentence should not be reduced because it serves as an example for other financial advisers.

About 9,200 investors lost a combined $115 million through Norbourg Investments.

Lacroix was charged with making 137 illegal transactions from the fund, and sentenced to 12 years minus a day.

He also has to pay a fine of $255,000.

Lacroix was arrested in 2006 after Norbourg was investigated by Quebec's financial market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF).