Dutch oil tycoon John Deuss has failed in his bid to have a warrant for his arrest overturned by a Supreme Court judge.

The 64-year-old multi-millionaire — currently being questioned by detectives in his homeland over a complex tax fraud — hired top British QC Clare Montgomery to argue that the warrant was unlawfully issued by Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo.

Ms Montgomery told the court in May that her client — who agreed to be voluntarily extradited to Holland in October after he was arrested here on suspicion of deliberate, habitual laundering; handling stolen property; and being in charge of a criminal organisation — wanted to “live in Bermuda free from the risk of arrest”.

She argued that the crimes he was accused of did not fall into the list of extraditable offences in Bermuda so the warrant was not valid.

But Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller, delivering her judgment, disagreed. She said: “The learned magistrate came to the correct conclusion and, accordingly, the application that the provisional warrant be quashed is denied.”

She said she was satisfied that there was “sufficient material” before Mr. Tokunbo to justify the warrant and ruled that handling stolen property did fall into the list of extradition crimes.

The magistrate issued the warrant after a request from Dutch authorities investigating a tax swindle known as carousel fraud, which allegedly involved Mr. Deuss’ Caribbean-based First Curaçao International Bank.

The former chairman of Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB), who has a home in Tucker’s Town and an office in Flatts, was apprehended by Police a week after they sought the public’s help in tracking him down. He was found at a property on the Island normally used to house the pilots who fly his private jets.

Mr. Deuss, who denies any wrongdoing, was held in custody after arriving in Holland and spent Christmas behind bars. But he has since been released on bail and has returned to the Island for a visit while detectives continue to investigate a scam said to have cost governments in Europe billions of dollars each year.

The Royal Gazette understands that the probe has been delayed due to the high-profile Dutch prosecutor in charge of the case, Hendrik-Jan Biemond, leaving the Office of the Public Prosecutor to go into private practice.

A spokeswoman for the Office said in May that Mr. Deuss remained a suspect. “We have no idea yet when the investigation will be completed,” she added.

Carousel fraud involves goods being repeatedly imported and exported across national borders with tax payments skimmed off into bank accounts.

Detectives claim that First Curaçao, the main shareholder of BCB, was used by carousel fraudsters to stash funds. The Sunday Mail newspaper in Scotland reported last weekend that Scottish mobile firm Diginett Ltd was being investigated for carousel fraud and had banked more than $600,000 ($1.2 million) with First Curaçao, which is in the Dutch Antilles.