A man tried to swindle international company ACE out of $20 million by posing as a director of the firm, it was alleged at Magistrates? Court yesterday.

Witnesses claimed Maxwell Roberts, 40, made suspicious calls to ACE employees before being caught in a Police sting as he arrived to pick up a cheque from the reception desk.

Roberts, of no fixed address, denies a charge of attempting to dishonestly obtain a $20 million cheque by deception. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in jail.

Prosecution witness Pandora Wright, director of human resources at ACE ? a Hamilton based insurance and reinsurance company ? said she fielded calls on September 5 and 6 from a man calling himself Mr. Strauss.

?He said he was the director of ACE and the conversation we were about to have should not be shared with anyone else,? she said of the first call, which she described as ?quite odd?.

She told the court she was unfamiliar with the name Mr. Strauss and identified the voice of the caller, who had a ?distinct Bermudian accent? as that of Roberts.

Ms Wright said the caller told her a man called Mr. Stevens was flying to Bermuda at 5 p.m. that day and she should reserve a room for him at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

?He went on to say that Mr. Stevens was coming to Bermuda to investigate the conduct of our CEO and that?s why I was unable to share the information with anyone else.

?He also (said) Mr. Stevens would be expecting payment to start the investigation and that payment amount would be $20 million,? said Ms Wright. ?I pretty much figured out at that time that it was a hoax.?

She said when she told the caller she was not authorised to produce the cheque, ?he got somewhat agitated, raised his voice, started speaking quicker and basically said that he would not tolerate insubordination and that he would personally fly down on his private jet and fire me?.

Ms Wright said she agreed to the request, and the caller said he would send a messenger to collect the cheque at noon the following day. She then contacted the authorities.

A meeting with Police detectives resulted in a fake cheque for $20 million being drawn up to look like a real ACE cheque, made out to ?Kenneth Stevens?, as had been specified by the caller.

This was left with the receptionist at the front desk.

Ms Wright said ?Mr. Strauss? called again the next morning, instructing her to tell the Butterfield Bank in St. George?s to tell them to authorise the payment of the cheque.

She described how one Police officer took up position behind the company?s reception desk, acting as a receptionist, and two others took up strategic positions in the ACE lobby.

Roberts dispensed with the services of his lawyer, Larry Scott, before the trial began and elected to represent himself.

He quizzed Ms Wright about the telephone calls, and she confirmed that she did not have a video phone and did not know what the caller looked like.

Receptionist Lucy Monkman told the court Roberts turned up to collect an envelope from the reception desk around noon on September 6.

She said that after he signed for the envelope and signed the visitors book, Police officers came up and put his hands behind his back.

While cross examining Tammy Barclay, a human resources specialist at ACE, Roberts claimed he was a paid messenger for Kenneth Stevens and Mr. Strauss.

Diane Alleyne, a legal advisor at law firm Appleby Hunter Bailhache, said she took a phone call from someone calling himself Maxwell Roberts, Jr. on September 6, asking about changing his name to Kenneth Stevens, and explaining he wanted to leave Bermuda and make a fresh start.

Neal Stevens, owner and manager of Rosemont Guest House, Hamilton, said Roberts checked in on September 5, with his mother paying.

He said Police executed a search warrant at Roberts? room the following day, later telling him the occupant would not be returning.

Puisne Judge Khamisi Tokunbo rejected an application by Roberts for bail, and remanded him back into custody. The case continues.