Jan 22 - TRIAL UPDATE: All Four Defendants Found Not Guilty

Written by YGTV Team on 22 January 2016.

There was a sigh of relief as the jury found all four defendants accused of conspiracy to defraud in an alleged Ponzi scheme not guilty.

The jury was urged to find Lizette Cornelio, Lance Mauro, Damian Mauro and Aaron Smith not guilty after Puisne Judge Adrian Jack said the jury could not convict the defendants on proper grounds at this late stage of the trial. 

This was established after submissions put forward by defence lawyers questioned the conspiracy to defraud charge on the indictment. 

Mr Justice Jack took their submissions into consideration, and instructed the jury to find them not guilty. 

Robert Fischel QC and Carl Ramagge appeared for the Crown. Francis Borastero-Porter  appeared for Cornelio, Chris Miles for Lance and Damian Mauro, and Patrick Canessa for Aaron Smith.

{fcomment}