BLACK businessmen fighting long-running lawsuits against the Bank of Bermuda over allegations of fraud and discrimination claim that their quests for justice are being hampered by the very watchdogs set up to ensure that no one is above the law.

Documents obtained by the Mid-Ocean News suggest that authorities such as the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the Court Registrar gave out contradictory and incorrect information to a number of entrepreneurs who dared take the bank to court over alleged malpractice, which they claim has cost them millions of dollars.

And the businessmen argue they have even been stonewalled by the police after they filed criminal complaints in a desperate last-ditch bid for justice.

One businessman, who asked not to be named, launched a lawsuit against the bank in 2002, alleging that bank representatives acted fraudulently in granting him and his wife a loan ¿ before getting him fired from his job and taking possession of his family home.

Last summer, after years of appeals and counter appeals in which the bank sought to have the case struck off, the Supreme Court finally ruled that the bank should face charges that it acted fraudulently and was in breach of its fidiciary duty and other contractual obligations. However, the bank is now appealing that ruling ¿ delaying proceedings even further.

While that matter dragged through the courts, the businessman filed separate but similar allegations against former bank CEO Henry Smith and the bank's board of directors with the Bermuda Monetary Authority ¿ the independent watchdog set up to ensure that companies and financial institutions operate within a legal framework.

However, five years later, the businessman has still not been told the outcome of the BMA's investigation ¿ or even if it investigated the matter in the first place. Documents show that he was initially told by the BMA that it would carry out an investigation. He was subsequently told that, although the BMA had carried out an investigation, it was not at liberty to tell him of its findings. He then contacted the Ombudsman ¿ only to be told that she had been informed by the BMA that it never had the authority to carry out an investigation to begin with.

The businessman came up against similar difficulties with court authorities, who refused to grant him access to court files on his own case.

And he understands that police detectives investigating a criminal complaint that he filed, failed to interview the very bank officials who stood accused of fruadulant practices.

This week the businessman told the Mid-Ocean News: "Bermuda is the only place in the world where an individual can seek assistance from a financial institution and that same institution can intentionally mislead and place them in a position rendering it impossible for their obligations to be met. They can do this with impunity as the policing bodies will turn a blind eye.

"How can the police carry out an investigation into my complaint without even interviewing those who I'm accusing? How can the BMA tell me that it is carrying out an investigation into my complaint, then tell me that it won't reveal the findings of that investigation ¿ and then tell another authority that is never carried out an investigation in the first place? Does that seem right?

"But for the record I will not go quietly or willingly to the gallows, to be lynched in some dark alley. If it must be, the bank will lynch me in broad daylight, preferably at high noon outside their headquarters on Front Street for all to see."

"I am not the first. Bermuda has a history of this behaviour and, as long as the authorities lack the moral courage to represent the people rather than the establishment, it will continue. No doubt some of them will fall victim in the fullness of time."

A second businessman, Harold Darrell, was involved in a legal battle with the bank for almost a decade after it claimed he owed it $1.6 million on a $200,000 loan. Last June, after years of claims and counter appeals, the bank was finally forced to drop its claim and admit that it did not have a case.

However, in July, Mr. Darrell filed a criminal complaint against the bank's attorneys, claiming they tampered with evidence presented during Mr. Darrell's civil case. Six months on, Mr. Darrell has had no official word from the Bermuda Police Service's Fraud Squad officers as to how his complaint is progressing.

Yesterday, a disgusted Mr. Darrell said: "I've heard nothing ¿ absolutely nothing ¿ in six months. From what I understand, they haven't even looked at my complaint because they're scared of taking on the bank.

"This is how Bermuda operates now. My case is a classic example of the little guy who is being screwed over by a major institution. When I seek justice, who can I turn to? If you appeal to any of these supposedly unbiased watchdogs you get nowhere ¿ you just get given the runaround. The BMA? It's a complete waste of time. They're jokers because, rather than being objective referees of the system, they're part of the system. And the system's rotten.

"The Bank of Bermuda and this Government over the last ten years have been allowed to flourish like untreated cancer in our community. They have be abetted by the purported agencies set up to protect citizens' rights - such as the Human Rights Commissions, Bermuda Police Service, Bermuda Monetary Authority and the courts - through their lack of will and courage to properly address any conflict or complaints filed, by entrepreneurs who dare to stand and confront them after having been a victim of their injustice."

Yesterday, the Mid-Ocean News e-mailed the BMA and the Bermuda Police Service Fraud Squad with a list of questions relating to both cases ¿ and also to their investigative practices in general.

We asked the BMA: Is BMA is aware of a complaint by Mr. XXXX? Has it investigated it and if so, how? Are investigations ongoing? If not, have they been shelved or will the BMA, as a result of its investigation, be taking further action? If so, what? What the process is when someone makes a complaint? How is that complaint processed? Is it investigated by BMA officers? If not, is it forwarded on to the Police Fraud Squad, or do the two agencies work in tandem? What happens once an investigation has been concluded? Is a file forwarded on to the Police and/orProsecution Services? How many complaints the BMA has received in the past three years? How many of those have been investigated? Has the BMA uncovered any form of illegal activity in its investigations? Has it forwarded on any complaints or findings to either the Police or the Prosecution? What does the BMA say to allegations that it is a paper tiger, set up to do nothing more than give a veneer of credibility to a corrupt system?

The BMA did not respond to our questions by press time last night.

We asked the Bermuda Police Service Fraud Squad: Did the Bermuda Police Service Fraud Squad receive complaints from Mr. XXXX and Mr. Darrell concerning their dealings with the Bank of Bermuda? Has the Fraud Squad investigated these complaints and if so, has it reached a conclusion? Will the Fraud Squad be forwarding on its findings ¿ if it has reached any ¿ to other authorities such as the Prosecution Service and the BMA? Does the Bermuda Police Service believe ¿ having had Mr. Darrell's complaint for six months ¿ that there are any grounds for a complaint?

We also asked: Can the Bermuda Police Service's Fraud Squad reveal how many complaints it has received directly from the BMA in relation to Bermuda-based white collar crime in the last three years? What is the relationship between the two organisations as far as investigations go - do they work together in investigating these complaints? How many of these complaints have resulted in successful prosecution?

Yesterday, Det. Sgt. David Geraghty of the Bermuda Police Service Fraud Squad replied: "Mr. XXXX did indeed make a complaint to Police last year but I am unable to discuss with you the circumstances or the outcome of that case.

"I can also confirm that Mr. Darrell also made a complaint to Police a number of years ago. It was investigated and Mr. Darrell was informed as to the outcome of that case.

"Unfortunately, for the same reason, I am unable to discuss the details of that investigation with you or the details of what other complaints are made to this office."

When informed of the Police response yesterday, Mr. Darrell noted that detectives appared to be confused by the two entirely seperate complaints. He pointed out that he filed his complaint last summer - not "a number of years ago" as Det. Sgt. Geraghty claimed. He also said he understood that the other businessman made his complaint to Police in 2003 - not last year as Det. Sgt. Geraghty claimed.

"This just demonstrates what a joke the whole thing is - they can't even get basic facts straight," Mr. Darrell added.