House of disgraced and jailed Lumiere boss put on market to pay debts
The house of convicted fraudster Christopher Byrne is set to be sold at auction, with the proceedings going towards paying of debts after the collapse of Jersey-based Lumiere Wealth.
The St. Brelade home will be put on the market alongside Lumiere Wealth's offices, the Viscount's Office revealed. Together, the properties are expected to fetch over £1.8m, local news outlet Bailiwick Express reports.
Christopher Byrne was convicted of fraudulent offences in September this year after his trial lasting four weeks concluded in the Royal Court. Bryne's clients lost almost £3m when the investment scam eventually collapsed.
The month-long trial involved evidence from the Jersey Financial Services Commission and his former clients, which included an elderly French couple, a pensioner and a partially-blind 79-year-old.
In recent years, the property has been rented to repay loans secured against it, but the Royal Court heard that there are currently no tenants.
Court documents seen by Express showed that Byrne's St. Brelade-based marital home ‘Bienvenue' was originally purchased for £825,000 in 2007. Once sold, half of the profits will be returned to Mr Byrne's wife.
The application also included a request to sell Units 11 and 12 at Millais House, Castle Quay - properties owned by Lumiere, of which Byrne was a 35% shareholder - in order to pay off another outstanding loan.
According to the court documents, "Lumiere Holdings is in default of payments due under the loan and interest is continuing to accrue."
Having been purchased for £380,000 and £600,000 in 2015 and 2014 respectively, the pair is now likely to reach over £1m once sold.
The Viscount Office still holds two other properties belonging to the disgraced adviser, but there seems to be no immediate plans to sell them.
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