A woman was arrested and questioned last week in connection with an event at a restaurant that cost two former Cabinet ministers their posts in July.

The Bermuda Police Service confirmed this morning that inquiries continued into the dinner at Blu Bar and Grill in Warwick.

A BPS spokesman said that a 26 year-old woman was arrested and interviewed last week in connection with the July 3 event.

He added: “No further details will be released at this time due to it being an ongoing investigation.”

The news was reported earlier on the TNN website.

Blu was issued with a 14-day closure order in the wake of the event, which was billed as a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels.

The dinner was granted a special exemption from the Ministry of National Security to have more than the maximum of 50 guests allowed under Covid-19 rules at the time.

But Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said the closure order was imposed after a “detailed investigation by the Ministry of Health into the large gathering event held at the restaurant …”

She added then that the investigation found that the venue had broken public-health regulations introduced under pandemic emergency powers.

Wayne Caines, the former Minister of National Security, and Zane DeSilva, the former tourism and transport minister, quit the Cabinet after footage of them at the dinner was shared on social media.

Ms Wilson said in July: “That evening’s events were extremely regrettable for all involved and I take no pleasure in having to issue any business with a temporary closure notice during these challenging economic times.

“However, it is crucial that lessons are learnt from this and that we continue to protect ourselves and our community from the threat of Covid-19, particularly now that our borders are open and we have active Covid-19 cases on island.”

Police later confirmed that they would examine the potential public-health risk posed at the event and that a decision would be made on whether to forward a file for review by the Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions.

Peter Smith, the president of Meals on Wheels, said in July that the charity requested that the donation went to another organisation.

He added: “The board of Meals on Wheels decided that since we were not a party to this event in any way and given that the circumstances surrounding the event put us in an awkward position with our clients, volunteers and our donors, due to the misunderstanding of our role, that the appropriate response to the organisers was to say thank you, but to request that they direct the funds to another needy charity.”

Mr Smith said: “The organisers stated that they understood our position and would be happy to donate to another charity.”

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