NEW ORLEANS: In 1986, Alexander Legault was living in Canada when a grand jury in New Orleans indicted him on charges he duped the government of Egypt into paying more than $7 million for a shipment of frozen chicken he allegedly never intended to deliver.
Twenty-three years later, the suspected con man is back in Louisiana to stand trial in the fraud case. Canada deported him in October 2008.
When Canadian authorities turned him over to US border officials, the 59-year-old Legault also was wanted in Florida on charges he conspired to swindle 300 elderly investors out of millions of dollars.
Florida authorities are waiting for Legault’s case in New Orleans to be resolved before moving to extradite him, a spokeswoman for Florida’s attorney general said.
A judge in New Orleans this week delayed the start of his trial to June 22. It had been set to start March 30.
Legault’s lawyer, Robert Glass, had asked for more time to prepare for a trial or negotiate a possible deal with prosecutors. Glass declined to comment this week.
While living in Canada, Legault was one of seven people charged in 1997 in Volusia County, Florida, with racketeering. Between 1993 and 1996, Legault and others allegedly conspired to lure victims into investing about $11 million in unregistered securities.
