Financial journalist David Marchant has drawn criticism from LOM for what the company claims is his unbalanced coverage of the SEC case.

The former Royal Gazette business journalist's stories on the case have appeared on his OffshoreAlert website, whose motto is: "The pen is mightier than the fraud."

LOM claimed that Miami-based Mr. Marchant holds a grudge against the Lines family, because he believes Donald Lines was instrumental in getting his work permit renewal denied in the mid-1990s.

Mr. Marchant vigorously denied that and said he has simply done his job as a financial investigative journalist.

"Mr. Marchant has a long history of eagerly seizing upon one side of any issue regarding LOM," an LOM spokesman said.

"For many years he has made no secret of the fact that he holds a grudge against the Lines family due to his erroneous belief that Donald Lines had him thrown out of Bermuda.

"This [the latest OffshoreAlert story on the court case, published on March 10] is another case in point where Mr. Marchant has seized one side of a story and written LOM up in the worst possible interpretation whilst intentionally ignoring the motion filed at the same time by LOM pointing out the salient facts in this situation.

"Mr. Marchant holds himself out to be an ethical and independent investigative journalist however it is entirely obvious from his history with LOM that he behaves in a manner that is in no way balanced."

Mr. Marchant responded: "I have never stated, claimed, implied or otherwise — directly or indirectly — in public or in private that Donald Lines was responsible for having me 'thrown out' of Bermuda for the simple reason that I do not believe it to be true. In my experience, making fantastic claims that are unsupported by any evidence is an act of the truly desperate.

"I am an investigative journalist who specialises in reporting about allegations of serious financial crime in the offshore world. If an offshore company is accused of securities fraud by the SEC, as LOM has, it is inevitable that OffshoreAlert is going to extensively report about fairly and accurately, giving both sides of the story, as we have in the case of 'The SEC vs. LOM'. It is an example of me doing my job properly, nothing more, nothing less.

"May I suggest that, if LOM does not want to appear in OffshoreAlert on a regular basis, the company should avoid situations which lead to the company being accused of illegal activity."