MONTREAL — The victims of fraud artist Earl Jones have been advised that the prisoner, currently incarcerated at Ste-Anne-des-Plaines detention centre, has requested a parole hearing for some time in June.

Sentenced to 11 years for theft and fraud in February 2010, Jones has been eligible for day parole since April 16, 2013, and full parole since Oct. 16, 2013, after having served one-third of his sentence.

Last autumn, he waived his rights to a hearing.

Some victims suggested to The Gazette that the timing of Jones's request for a parole hearing might have something to do with the issuing of cheques last month.

Days before Christmas, 125 of his victims received cheques from the settlement of a class-action suit filed on behalf of former client Virginia Nelles against the Royal Bank of Canada. The suit went after the bank, saying it allowed Jones to misuse the trust account and break the rules for such an account for many years.

Jones was found guilty of defrauding more than 150 of his clients of $50 million after a Ponzi scheme he orchestrated imploded in July 2009. Jones had been running the scam for more than 25 years out of an 'in trust' account at the Royal Bank of Canada.

His mostly senior clientele lost their pensions, inheritances, life savings and, in some cases, their homes. A dozen clients found themselves encumbered with large mortgages on the homes they thought they owned outright, mortgages taken out by Jones without their knowledge when he needed to bolster his lagging slush account where all the customer funds were co-mingled.

The class-action suit was launched in July 2011 for $40 million. In March 2012, the bank countered with $17 million, without admitting liability to the claims it demonstrated wilful blindness to the way Jones was operating.

After the fees for the lawyers who took on the case on spec, the payout to the victims was $12.2 million.

A protracted claims settlement — beset by a lawsuit against the investment branch of RBC, the objections of several claimants who felt they were owed more, and a former Jones employee jumping on the bandwagon a day or two after RBC settled — dragged out the final payments for almost two years.

All claimants were assessed for what they had received in monthly 'allowances' or payouts from Jones against what they had entrusted to the fake financial adviser.

The interest they thought they were receiving on the money they gave to Jones was non-existent, despite the statements they received to the contrary.

In the end, minus all outlays, clients who were eligible for the settlement received 44.1 cents on the dollar. Cheques were mailed out on Dec. 20.

Meanwhile, the actual date of the parole hearing will depend on the availability of all who have demonstrated that they want to be heard.

For the victims who are registered with the Parole Board of Canada, the eventual hearing will give them the opportunity to express their feelings about how the crime perpetrated by Jones has affected their lives and any objections they might have to his release.



asutherland@montrealgazette.com