A murky episode of alleged James Bond-style corporate espionage in Bermuda has gained credence with one of Washington DC's most powerful congressmen demanding to know the full details. And in the latest twist it has been revealed a claimed fake British government secret agent was accompanied on his Bermuda mission by a woman accomplice posing as "Liz from Langley" — Langley being the Virginia headquarters of the CIA.

The truth may soon be revealed about a tale said to involve clandestine rendezvous in bars around Hamilton's financial district by a man claiming to be a secret agent working for the UK Government and seeking information on Russian telecoms company Ipoc through audit firm KPMG's office in Par-La-Ville Road.

Washington, London, Moscow and Hamilton are all linked in the alleged saga now being probed on Capitol Hill by Henry Waxman, who heads a powerful US congressional investigative committee.

Spies were said to be positioned around Hamilton city centre to check that a British expat allegedly providing the confidential material was not himself an agent or being followed by another agency.

And in a Paget parish field documents relating to transactions by Russian telecoms giant Ipoc were said to have been placed in a plastic container beneath a rock where the agent could collect them without attracting attention.

On another occasion it is alleged more secret documents were placed in the storage compartment of a moped near Elbow Beach to be gathered by the agent.

If the elaborate story — fine details of which first appeared in the Business Week publication last month — and claims in an ongoing court US court case turn out to be true then the secret agents involved were actually taking orders from a rival telecoms company seeking to snoop on Ipoc.

The motive for the alleged spying games, according to Ipoc, was to ultimately nullify its claim to huge riches associated with a 25 percent share in a Russian cell phone company.

The Royal Gazette has learned that late last week there was a courtroom scramble in US district court of Columbia to prevent any more not-to-be-revealed information becoming public after a journalist found out about the existence of a second alleged fake agent "Liz from Langley" — a detail supposedly out of the view of prying eyes after documents in a previous related case between KPMG and US-based international investigative agency Diligence were placed "under-seal" and out of reach.

On Thursday there was an emergency courtroom scramble to prevent any further details from the earlier case leaking out.

This weekend the Financial Times in London reported that California Democrat Congressman Mr. Waxman had written to a Chicago-based attorney for Ipoc requesting information.

US court documents filed by Ipoc name Diligence LLC, Washington lobby firm Barbour, Griffith & Rogers and Russian firm Alfa Group as having played a part in the web of intrigue.

Ipoc's complaint filed with the court in Columbia last June accuses Diligence and BGR of improperly procuring confidential information about the company via KPMG in Bermuda. It is alleged Diligence staff impersonated British and American secret service agents in order to secure confidential information from an employee of KPMG.

The Financial Timesreportedly quotes from Mr. Waxman's letter that there was a plot to "obtain confidential business information about Ipoc" and it was achieved through "corporate espionage" against Ipoc and its auditor KPMG. And it states that Mr. Waxman, who is chairman of the powerful US Government oversight and government reform committee, wants to know about the alleged espionage that is referred to as 'Project Yucca'.

The UK newspaper and the newly launched The Politico newspaper in the US both report that Diligence denies any wrong-doing and welcomes the opportunity to have the matter go before Mr. Waxman.

The Bermuda Government is seeking next month to liquidate Ipoc and eight affiliated companies as part of an effort to defend the Island's reputation as a secure financial centre.

Ipoc came to Bermuda in 2000. It later became the subject of an investigation by the Bermuda Government that was conducted through KPMG's offices, according to US court documents.

Ipoc has accused Diligence and BGR of using "improper and deceitful actions" against it to obtain confidential information from the Government-instigated investigation to be used by its rival Alfa Group in a commercial tussle over a 25 percent share of Russian cell phone operator MegaFon.

And Ipoc further claims it was the Alfa Group which "embarked on a plan to have Ipoc's corporate charter terminated by the government of Bermuda" by having the Par-La-Ville Road company investigated by the Finance Minister.

Diligence is chaired by former CIA and FBI director Judge William Webster, while its Europe chair is former head of the UK Conservative Party Michael Howard.

BGR is chaired by former White House official Ed Rogers, who was deputy assistant to former US president George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1991.