A RUTHLESS property tycoon with alleged ties to Bermuda will have his fate determined by British courts today.

Nicholas van Hoogstraten, whose strong-arm tactics earned him a reported $300 million fortune, faces a life sentence for the manslaughter of business rival Mohammed Raja.

The British national's sprawling home, Hamilton Palace, was reputedly named because he funnelled part of his fortune through off-shore companies and bank accounts in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The $63 million palace, located on an 100-acre estate in the Sussex countryside, is the largest private home to be built in Britain in more than 100 years.

In July, a jury found van Hoogstraten guilty of manslaughter, after hearing witness testimony that he hired two heavies to rough up and terrify Mr. Raja. The 62-year-old was shot with a sawn-off shotgun and stabbed on his doorstep. The hitmen, David Croke, 59, and Robert Knapp, 55, were given life sentences for murder.

Raja's last words were: "These are van Hoogstraten's men. They've hit me, they've hit me."

Van Hoogstraten made his fortune buying cheap properties with sitting tenants, forcing them to leave, and re-selling the houses at a profit. He is the second richest inmate in British criminal history behind time-share fraudster John (Goldfinger) Palmer who has an estimated ?350 million fortune.