The invitation to the March 2002 event, from Tina Byles Poitevien, the CEO of Bermuda's Philadelphia-based pension fund consultant Fiduciary Investment Solutions Inc. (FIS), was sent to representatives of US-based investment managers who already managed a portion of Bermuda's pension funds, to prospective managers, and to stockbrokers who wanted to trade the Bermuda pension funds under management.

"Please join me for a luncheon in honour of Dr. Ewart Brown, JP, Member of Parliament, Government of Bermuda, to be held Monday, March 11th, 2002, at 12 p.m. at Sam and Harry's, 1200 19th Street, N.W. Washington, DC," read the invitation.

"Your response by March 1 will be appreciated. Contribution: $2,500, Checks to be made payable to: Dr. Ewart Brown (PLP). Mail by March 5th to Tina Byles Poitevien, Fiduciary Investment Solutions Inc., 1608 Walnut Street, Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA. 19103."

Dr. Brown confirmed that he attended the lunch, and described the event as a "fund-raiser".

But Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons described the luncheon as an example of "self-dealing at its worst", saying: "It stinks.

"There's a clear pattern of unethical behaviour here, which we have seen before."

Shadow Attorney General Trevor Moniz said the luncheon "should be a matter of great public concern."

In a rather unsubtle example of a pension-fund practice known as "pay to play" (see accompanying article), Ms Poitevien arranged the lunch at the Washington, DC restaurant so that the fund managers understood the strength of her relationship with the Bermuda "client", and Dr. Brown, perhaps on behalf of the Progressive Labour Party, collected $2,500 each from about a dozen people who were grateful to be Bermuda pension fund managers or stockbrokers, or who hoped to become one.

Sam & Harry's, a pricey steakhouse less than a mile from the White House and a few blocks from K Street, notoriously rife with Washington lobbyists, was a good choice for lunch. It offered private rooms for discreet networking, and although a reviewer had warned of "mediocre food at huge prices", at least the paying guests knew the size of their bill beforehand.

It is understood that those invited included Thaddeus Fletcher, who has held senior positions with two of Bermuda pension fund managers; he was with Columbia Partners in 2000 when Bermuda's Public Funds Investment Committee (PFIC) accepted Ms Poitevien's advice to hire them, and his firm ranked second in fees earned from PFIC in 2001, their first year. When he moved to Philadelphia-based Cooke & Bieler in 2002, PFIC hired that company immediately.

Mr. Fletcher has been described as a friend of Dr. Brown's, and a source said that it was their friendship which led FIS and Ms Poitevien to the lucrative Bermuda pension fund consultancy and management.

"(Fletcher) is extremely influential, and was instrumental in making the original introductions that eventually got FIS down to Bermuda and to that (Bermuda pension fund) assignment," he said.

In addition to Mr. Fletcher, other fund managers hired by PFIC on the recommendation of Ms Poitevien were believed to be on the guest list, including Davis Hamilton Jackson, Cutler & Company, and Loomis Sayles.

The commissions earned by these managers since Ms Poitevien was named Bermuda's pension consultant in 2000 make it clear why managers would pay $2,500 each to have lunch with Dr. Brown and earn the approval of Ms Poitevien; by the end of 2003, for the provision of three years of fund management services, Bermuda's PFIC had paid Cutler & Company $985,000, Columbia Partners $855,000, Loomis Sayles $636,000, and Davis Hamilton Jackson $388,000; Cooke & Bieler were paid $245,000 for just over a year.

Ms Poitevien has been the subject of a number of newspaper articles in the US which have alleged involvement in "pay-to-play" arrangements. In a recent interview with a Philadelphia reporter, Ms Poitevien was asked if she had arranged fund-raisers for US politicians, but her lawyer, white-collar crime specialist George Bocchetto, who sat in on the interview, advised her not to answer.

It appears that the Washington lunch for Dr. Brown was a typical example of the fund-raising format. The guest list for the lunch for Dr. Brown, who is also now Tourism Minister as well as Transport Minister, was reported to be similar to one arranged for a fund-raiser for Philadelphia Mayor John Street.

Unlike Mayor Street, Dr. Brown would be expected to have few personal campaign expenses, but it is possible that the parenthetical reference to the PLP meant that Dr. Brown collected some $30,000 on behalf of the Party.

However, it is understood that an event was held more recently in honour of PFIC chairman Calvin White, and given his closer relationship with PFIC's consultant, he is believed to have been especially honoured that the party was held, not in some lobbyist restaurant, but in Ms Poitevien's home in the upscale inner Philadelphia suburb of Mt. Airy.

Of the Washington lunch, Dr. Brown said: "Yes, it happened, I was there. It was a fund-raiser, before the election. I went to Atlanta and Dallas as well."

Opposition Leader Dr. Gibbons told the : "It stinks. There's clearly a pattern of unethical behaviour here, which we have seen before. It is self-dealing at its worst, and demonstrates a clear need for a full disclosure programme by all PFIC pension fund advisors and managers of the hard and soft money contributions that they receive or give to members of Government and others who may have influence in our pension fund management or investment.

"When you combine a senior Cabinet minister, along with the consultant who advises Government on which investment manager to use, it's a shocking example of 'pay-to-play', not innocent fund-raising.

"For seniors who depend on Government pension benefits for their livelihood, this provides little comfort that their pension money is being invested with their best interests at heart.

"It also raises a series of questions, for example, did any of the investment managers present that day actually get Government pension fund business or more of that business as a result of their contributions? Where did the thousands of dollars raised end up? Were they for Dr. Brown's election campaign, or did they go to the Progressive Labour Party Government?"

Asked whether he knew about the lunch in honour of Dr. Brown, Calvin White responded: "No."

Asked whether he understood the concept of "pay-to-play", he responded: "I have no comment and I know nothing about it. I did not attend it, neither did I make any calls or anything in relation to it." Asked whether, similarly to Dr. Brown, he was the "guest of honour" at an event arranged by Ms Poitevien at her home in Philadelphia, Mr. White said: "What do you mean, 'guest of honour'?"

Asked whether he had ever been a guest of Ms Poitevien's at her home, he said: "No. I have nothing to say." He then hung up.

Mr. White called later, and agreed that he had been a "guest" at a thanksgiving party at Ms Poitevien's home, but not the "guest of honour" and that no investment fund managers were present.

Ms Poitevien did not return a number of calls for comment, and Thaddeus Fletcher was unable to respond by press time.

Mr. Moniz, the Shadow Attorney General and Shadow Minister for Legislative Affairs, said: "This should be a matter for great public concern.

"It shocks me that there's been no comment from the leader of the country about the many previous revelations about the behaviour of certain members of his Government.

"All of this seems particularly unseemly, and nothing has been said about the ethics involved. Has the Government sunk to such a low ebb that they don't even bother defending themselves any more?

"In this case, one is always shocked to hear what one suspects be confirmed, to find the 'proof in the pudding'. This is 'pay-to-play', but has this 'sleaze' become business as usual, the order of the day, so that it doesn't merit a comment? As for Calvin White, he should be asked to stand down immediately."

The five-man PFIC is chaired by Calvin White, CEO of Maximum Pension Services, a subsidiary of Maximum Financial Ltd, a company whose directors and shareholders include PLP backbencher Ren?e Webb, recently shown to be the prime beneficiary of the PFIC "directed brokerage" arrangement.

The other members of the PFIC are businessman Wendall Brown, retired statistician and political activist Calvin Smith, Allied World Assurance Company's Vice President and Controller Philip Smith, and Dwayne Outerbridge, the Head of Portfolio Management for Private Clients at HSBC Bank of Bermuda.

The Cabinet Office was unable to respond by press time.