LONDON (Reuters) - The husband of a former accountant at the London Metal Exchange (LME) will ask that fraud charges against him be dismissed due to lack of evidence, a court hearing heard on Tuesday.
Annmarie Norris is charged with fraud worth about 1 million pounds that occurred between December 2012 and December 2015, the Crown Prosecution Service has said.
Her husband Michael is charged with converting criminal property worth 167,595 pounds, according to an indictment.
The case against Mr. Norris is largely based the assumption that "he must have known" that lots of money coming in to the couple was due to fraud because they were married, Prosecutor Denis Barry said.
Neither husband nor wife has entered a plea to the charges.
Defence lawyers have agreed that an application to dismiss his charges will be heard on Dec. 20, Barry added at the hearing at Inner London Crown Court.
The counts of fraud by abuse of position and possessing criminal property against Mrs. Norris includes using a company credit card to buy personal goods and services, the indictment said.
She is also charged with ordering domestic and foreign currency not required for business purposes, it added.
The LME, the world's oldest and largest market for industrial metals, has not commented on the case. The exchange is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.