THE judge in the fraud trial off Kevin and Ian Maxwell began his summing up yesterday by telling jurors they must decide if media mogul Robert Maxwell's sons had deliberately put pension fund assets at risk.

Judge Nicholas Phillips is conducting the trial, now in its eighth month.

He said brothers Kevin and Ian and former Maxwell director Mr Larry Trachtenberg had only one job as directors of the Maxwell group pension company Bishopsgate Investment Management (BIM) to administer the funds for the benefit of the pensioners.

"It is up to you to decide whether a defendant agreed to put pension fund assets at substantial risk," he told the jury of seven women and five men.

The defendants have denied conspiring to defraud BIM by risking £22 million sterling of its assets in the Israeli company Teva Pharmaceuticals to obtain a loan for Robert Maxwell's main private company.

Kevin has pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of conspiring with his father before his death to defraud the pension fund by using £100 million of shares in another Israeli company called Scitex.

The judge said the crime of conspiracy could only occur when two or more people agreed to risk the property of another and agreed to do it dishonestly.

Judge Phillips said the mysterious circumstances of Mr Robert Maxwell's death was not an issue in the case and told the jury 10 approach the trial on the basis that his death was accidental.

He said the allegations against Kevin formed the foundation of the case on both counts, and that no one who gave evidence had a bad word to say about him or his brother Ian.

Phillips reminded the jury that" Kevin had testified during his four weeks in the witness box that, he never believed there was a rise, the Maxwell group would collapse.

The judge will continue his, summing up, which is expected to last for several days, today.