The trial of the former financier, Mr Finbarr Ross (54), was adjourned in Belfast yesterday due to the absence of a member of the jury. It is understood that the juror in question had suffered a bereavement.

Mr Ross denies 36 counts of false accounting and five of procuring property by deception from several clients in the North. The sums involved total £619,000 sterling (€999,677).

The prosecution claims that Mr Ross, originally from Dunmanway, Co Cork, was the controller of the Gibraltar-based company, International Investments Ltd. Last week, the court heard from several witnesses who claimed they had lost everything they had invested in the company when it foundered in 1984, owing millions of pounds.

The trial is expected to continue this morning.