Sir John Swan, a former premier, dismissed claims yesterday that the island’s property and development industries were once like “the Wild West” in which corruption was rampant.

Sir John was speaking at yesterday’s session of the Commission of Inquiry into Historical Losses of Land.

He told the commission that he began working in real estate in 1960 before setting up his own property development company.

He acknowledged that regulations were not in place at the time, but insisted that the industry still operated inside the law.

Sir John was responding to allegations that he was involved in a group that duped people into giving away their property.

The allegation centres on the purchase of a plot of land that Sir John made in 1970. The land was originally owned by the late John Augustus Alexander Virgil.

Mr Virgil’s descendants claim that Mr Virgil sold the Sandys property in 1969 to Emmanuel Augustus – and that documents show the purported sale and conveyance of the land were allegedly fraudulent.

Charles Brown, who represented the beneficiaries of Mr Virgil’s estate, earlier told the commission: “John Swan is directly connected to both transactions.”

The property was sold on to a third party – John Augustus - before Sir John bought it a year later.

Addressing the commission, Sir John said that at the time of the purchase, he was building around 40 per cent of Bermuda’s residential properties.

He dismissed suggestions that a team of influential “players” were running the industry as “totally untrue”.

He said: “We didn’t have all the licensing requirements that we have today – you just set up the business.

“But it wasn’t the Wild West. Agents agreed to transactions, but lawyers enacted the transactions.

“You needed a lawyer to facilitate the transaction and the documentation between the vendor and the purchaser. And the lawyer was operating under a licence.”

Mr Brown told the commission last year that the land was supposedly transferred from Mr Virgil to Russell Pearman for £7,000 in 1969, only for the property to be sold on the same day to Mr Augustus for £18,000.

Sir John insisted that he had no knowledge of the history of the property until Mr Augustus – a contractor who had worked for Sir John – purchased it from Mr Pearman.

“I received a call asking if I would take a look at it, viewed the land and thought it was a good opportunity for development,” he said.

Sir John bought the property from Mr Augustus a year later.

Asked by CoI counsel Dirk Harrison if he ever had any concerns that the Browns had been denied their inheritance, Sir John replied: “I can’t feel guilty for something I didn’t know about.”

The commission also heard that the Browns had filed a number of lawsuits since the 1970s – and had each one rejected.

Sir John said: “The Browns have persisted with these vexatious and unfounded allegations against my company and I for many years, and continue here today, damaging my reputation.”

* On occasion The Royal Gazette may choose to not allow comments on articles which may be contentious.