The Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza has set up a shell company in Bermuda to hold his $2.7 billion fortune if he is successful in an upcoming civil trial, the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.

Lawyer Alan Boyle, representing the baron's son Georg, claims the shell company was set up so that the greater share of the family fortune could be transferred to the baron's wife Carmen.

The baron is suing Georg to regain control of a Bermuda trust which holds the family estate. Mr. Boyle is in turn claiming the civil suit is an attempt by the baroness to grab control of the family estate.

The baron set up L.R.T. in Bermuda as a shell company just before the court action started in January 1997, it is alleged.

The baroness had undertaken to fund the cost of the civil suit if her husband died, Mr. Boyle claimed. Mr. Boyle said that made the baroness a person with more than a mere interest in the court action as she would be in control after her husband's death.

He said the baroness was a party to the action because she was to benefit from her husband's successful trial.

Mr. Boyle continued by saying it was alleged in the statement of claim that the baron and L.R.T. were trustees of the art trust.

The art trust was set up in 1986 by the baron. In 1993 the family art was sold, but some art pieces remained unsold, Mr. Boyle said.

The case continues today in the Court of Appeal.

The following is a synopsis of the case: Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, one of the world's leading art collectors, is trying to wrest back control of a $2.7 billion fortune from his son Georg, whom he put in control of a Bermuda-based trust in 1983.

The trust's main asset is Thyssen-Bornemisza Group, an industrial conglomerate that earned $100 million last year. The baron is attempting to dissolve the trust, claiming that since 1995 his son has not paid him the full 40 million Dutch guilders a year that was agreed on.

The arrears now amount to about $70 million, the baron's lawyers say.

For the past year, all the disputes preliminary to the actual case have been fought in private hearings in a judge's chambers. Preliminary disputes over evidence is now before the Court of Appeal.

Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza, 78, a citizen of Switzerland, is married to Spanish beauty queen Carmen. In 1993 he sold his art collection, one of the world's largest then in private hands, to the Spanish government for $350 million. The collection is housed in Madrid in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and might become part of the dispute if the Bermuda trust is dissolved.

The trust's beneficiaries are Georg Thyssen-Bornemisza, chief executive officer of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Group, and the baron's four other children, and an adopted son. The trust was set up to keep the industrial conglomerate together and avoid disputes over inheritance.

The case is expected to begin later in 1999 and last for up to a year.