Ex-Guinness Chief Guilty of Conspiracy : Courts: A London jury convicts Ernest Saunders of a stock scheme linked to the 1986 takeover of a Scottish distiller.

LONDON — Former Guinness PLC Chairman and Chief Executive Ernest Saunders and three co-defendants were found guilty today on 19 of 20 counts of misconduct in connection with the 1986 takeover of a Scottish distiller.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court, which deliberated for nearly a week, convicted Saunders, 54, on two charges of conspiracy to contravene the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act, eight charges of false accounting and two charges of theft. He was acquitted of illegally destroying documents.

Gerald Ronson, 50, chairman of Heron International PLC, was found guilty of conspiracy, two charges of false accounting and one of theft.

Former stockbroker Anthony Parnes, 44, was found guilty of four charges of false accounting and two of theft.

The jury convicted millionaire financier Sir Jack Lyons, 74, on two charges of conspiracy, three charges of false accounting and one of theft.

The defendants were convicted on 19 of the 20 counts listed on the charge sheet. Some charges named more than one defendant.

Judge Denis Henry said Saunders, Ronson and Parnes would be sentenced Tuesday, and postponed sentencing until Sept. 25 for Lyons, who is to undergo surgery this week.

Four other men still face trial for their alleged involvement in a scheme to arrange for the purchase of Guinness’ stock during the takeover fight for Distillers Co., a Scotch whiskey and gin maker, in 1986.

The government said there was an illegal operation to support Guinness’ share price to make its cash and stock bid of 2.7 billion pounds, or $5.18 billion, for Distillers more attractive than a rival bid from supermarket operator Argyll Group PLC.

More than 40 million pounds, or $76.86 million, of Guinness shares were purchased during the Distillers takeover fight. The prosecution claimed Guinness paid about 25 million pounds, or $48 million, in unlawful indemnities against losses in share dealing and in fees.

Guinness succeeded in April, 1986, in what was then Britain’s largest takeover. In December of that year, the Department of Trade and Industry announced it was investigating; Saunders was arrested in May, 1987. Other arrests followed.

Saunders, who has maintained he is a scapegoat, smiled as the jury foreman read the verdicts. Afterward, as he was led away, he waved to son James and daughter Joanna in the court’s gallery.

In an earlier interview with Sky Television, Saunders accused the prosecution of building “a politically based, mega-case . . . which has been hyped to an extraordinary extent.”

“I believe that for their own reasons a number of people have found it convenient to blame Ernest Saunders for a number of things that have gone on,” he said.

Former Guinness Director Jonathan Guinness said today that he felt sorry for Saunders and his family but added, “I don’t see how the jury could have come to any other verdict.”

In his closing argument, Judge Henry asked the jury to decide whether the criminal law “needs to protect markets to try to keep them straight, or should we simply leave it to the fat cats and the law of the jungle?”

The market is not a casino with the game fixed in favor of a few rich and privileged players, he said.

The case was brought to trial by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office, set up two years ago to investigate and prosecute complex fraud cases.

In the second trial, expected to start in October, Saunders will again be a defendant, along with Roger Seelig, 44, former corporate finance director for Morgan Grenfell and Co. Ltd.; Lord Patrick Spens, 47, former director of corporate finance at the merchant bank Henry Ansbacher and corporate finance partner of the investment firm Cazenove and Co. Ltd.; and David Mayhew, 48, senior corporate finance partner at Cazenove.