BERMUDA lawyer Kelvin Hastings-Smith has been recruited by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to join an elite panel of specialist lawyers formed to trace stolen assets around the globe.

The island is one of 24 jurisdictions represented on the panel, known as Fraudnet, which hopes to stay one step ahead of criminals by pooling information and expertise.

Mr. Hastings-Smith, who works for Appleby Spurling & Hunter, was yesterday unavailable for comment.

Fraudnet, set up earlier this year, is the brainchild of British lawyer Peter Lowe, assistant director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau.

Asked yesterday why he had sought a Fraudnet representative in Bermuda, Mr. Lowe said: "There is no particular reason why we have chosen these countries, though we were obviously concerned that we had legal representation in tax havens where a lot of money tends to end up."

Fraudnet also has lawyers in the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Monaco.

Mr. Lowe said he had been working on international fraud cases for the past 20 years.

"I always thought it would be useful to set up a network for victims of fraud, so they could have a one-stop service," Mr. Lowe said.

"Fraudnet grew out of a desire to produce such a network and bring together specialists from all over the world.

"The fruits of fraud can be dispersed to different jurisdictions. The international nature of fraud makes it important to have people in different countries who can help."

Other jurisdictions represented on the panel are Austria, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

"We launched Fraudnet at the start of this year and now we have 24 members," Mr. Lowe said. "We hope to have 50 or 60 by the end of next year. And we hope to keep on expanding."

If Fraudnet reaches those recruitment targets, it will become the world's biggest anti-fraud panel.