Shadow Finance Minister E. T. (Bob) Richards said last night that more questions need to be answered regarding the discredited IPOC Fund which caused damage to Bermuda's reputation before last week's announcement that it is to be wound up with Bermuda gaining a $22.5 million windfall confiscation.

In a statement Mr. Richards said: "We are pleased a settlement was finally reached in the IPOC case and take the opportunity to recognise and commend the hard work of investigators in both Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands.

"The IPOC case did serious harm to Bermuda's reputation in the years it played out in headlines around the world. Newspaper reports portrayed the Bermuda-based IPOC International Growth Fund as the tip of a complex billion-dollar money-laundering scheme involving the assets of Russian telecom companies. In doing so, doubt was cast on Bermuda's integrity as an offshore jurisdiction. Serious questions need to be answered about why this failure happened in the first place."

Mr. Richards said Finance Minister Paula Cox's statement last Thursday "did not indicate any internal investigation had been undertaken or was contemplated."

The opposition MP said Bermudians and the rest of the world had a right to know if the Government has investigated how the IPOC saga was allowed to take place on the Island starting in 2000.

He added: "It is our belief that the Bermuda Monetary Authority should never have given the green light to set up IPOC.

"The BMA has the responsibility to ensure that anyone wanting to set up a company in Bermuda is 'fit and proper.' So the first question that needs answering is: How was a fund allowed to be set up in Bermuda by a convicted fraudster?

"Was it a particular BMA employee's fault or a systemic fault? What measures has the Government put in place to ensure it does not happen again? Also, how is the BMA doing its job in ensuring banks know their customers?

"Many of the IPOC-related money-laundering transactions went through the Bermuda Commercial Bank after the incorporation of IPOC was approved? We note Minister Cox's pledge that there would be 'no cover-up' in the IPOC matter and therefore urge her to release the KPMG investigation into the IPOC fund as well as the 'James Bond' type spy activities associated with it."

Mr. Richards, in his statement, went on to say: "Bermuda's reputation internationally as a well-administered and responsible international business jurisdiction is essential to its economic well-being. The IPOC scandal has not helped that reputation and it is up to the government to take action - and be seen to take action - to correct any failures it exposed or misperceptions it created."

In a brief response last night Finance Minister Paula Cox said her Ministry had already said much about the case and had nothing further to add.