Earl Jones has been arrested.

The financial advisor who allegedly bilked clients of about $ 50 million was taken into custody just before noon on Monday.

He was arrested at his lawyer's office on Place D'Armes by the Surete du Quebec and taken to the detention centre on Parthenais St. where he is expected to spend the night.

Jones' lawyer Jeff Boro says the arrest was arranged last week. He had until 1 p.m. on Monday to turn himself in.

Jones is scheduled to appear in court at 2:30 on Tuesday. He is expected to face upwards of 400 criminal charges-- one count of fraud and one count of theft for each of Jones 200 or so clients.

He is expected to get bail.

Breaking the news

CTV Montreal broke the news to Ron Epps, a retired police officer who was helping two of his friends who had been clients of Jones'. CTV reached Epps as he was leaving the bank to help sort out his friends' accounts.

"It amazes me that he's turned himself in before the bankruptcy is settled," he said. "It's going to be very interesting to see where everything is, if a miracle happens and these people get their money back."

Jones' company is scheduled to have a bankruptcy hearing on Wednesday. He had until then to present himself.

Epps is helping Nancy Pappin and her brother Ted. Epps said prior to this, Jones had been steadily paying the bills on behalf of the two for "17 or 20 years."

Nancy suffers from cerebral palsy, and had her phone line cut off mid-July because the bills were not paid.

Watchful eye

Janet Watson was a victim of the Mount Real financial scandal from late 2005 in which 1600 investors lost $130 million.

She is one of the organizers behind a protest for victims of white collar crime scheduled for Wednesday at the court house, where Jones' company is having a bankruptcy hearing.

"It feels wonderful" to hear about Jones, she said. "Hopefully there's going to be some justice done in their case. We're certainly hoping that with all the publicity that the government's attention will be focused on this type of crime and the victims--victims just like you were a victim in a hold up."

After her experience, she advises people to:

  • Be vigilant about their accounts. In Watson's case, she was automatically reinvesting the interest and didn't notice when a payment didn't come through until a month later.
  • Watch for red flags like a late payment.
  • Bank with big institutions that have more accountability.