JURORS will today begin hearing evidence in the highly anticipated fraud trial of former Cash Plus boss, Carlos Hill, in the Home Circuit Court.

Yesterday, a panel of seven jurors was selected to try the case after Hill pleaded not guilty to charges of fraudulently inducing persons to invest and attempting to fraudulently induce persons to invest in his scheme between April and November 2007.

Hill, who was charged in 2008, faces seven years’ imprisonment if found guilty.

He was scheduled to go on trial a week ago. However, Hugh Wildman, former trustee in bankruptcy, and liquidator of Cash Plus, requested a delay.

Wildman told the court there were positive developments which could benefit depositors who lost more than US$100 million in Cash Plus.

There were reports last Friday which suggested that Hill had more than US$75 million “within reach”, which could pave the way for a possible payout to Cash Plus investors.

The former Cash Plus CEO promised that, on or before March 25, the Office of the Trustee in Bankruptcy would receive a bank letter confirming that US$90 million had been blocked, on behalf of the Trustee in Bankruptcy, for repayment to lenders of Cash Plus.

Yesterday, Hill’s lead attorney in the criminal matter, Valerie Neita-Robertson, told the court that the process of recouping the funds could be disrupted if the prosecution proceeded with the trial at this point.

Still, NeitaRobertson, who appears with attorney Deborah Martin, said that the defence was ready to proceed.

In response, Justice Paulette Williams told the court that the prosecution was of the view that the criminal proceedings would not pose a problem.

Meanwhile, Trustee in Bankruptcy Celia Barkley told the Jamaica Observer yesterday that her office had no record of receiving the document that was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, by Hill’s lawyers, last week.

Barkley said she would expect to be supplied with the document in order to determine if the money in fact exists.