his own pockets and those of his associates, a court was told yesterday.

And he created a paper trail using the anonomity of banker's drafts and middlemen to hide his crimes, it was alleged.

Crown Counsel Michael Pert QC told Supreme Court: "This case in a nutshell is that Arnold Todd was a respected and experienced member of staff in a position of trust and responsibility in the Bank of Bermuda and that he used that position and that trust to dishonestly enrich himself and others.'' Mr. Pert was making his opening remarks to the jury of ten women and two men at the start of a massive fraud trial involving Todd and three other accused.

Unemployed Todd, 56, of Pearman's Hill, Warwick West, faces a total of 17 charges of theft, fraud and false accounting.

Also in the dock are importer Varnel Curtis, 49, of St. Anne's Drive, Southampton, hotel security chief Milton Woods, 61, of 14 Old Road, Southampton, and businessman Cecil Durham, 56, of Ramgoat Hill, Smith's Parish.

All three men face other charges related to the allegations against Todd. The alleged offences faced by the four, involving around $1.2 million in total, are said to have taken place between August, 1985 and February, 1990. All four deny the charges.

Mr. Pert said that the cash was used to finance investment in property during the boom years of the 1980s.

He added: "This was a time when he and his associates stood to make a lot of money from these transactions.'' Mr. Pert claimed that Todd's postion in the bank allowed him to authorise Bank of Bermuda loans and overdrafts "to an individual or a company in cicumstances where the bank shouldn't and couldn't have approved the loan''.

He said Todd was the "inside man'' in the alleged crimes because he could permit money to leave the bank "where he perfectly well knew that money should never have left the bank''.

Mr. Pert added: "There was a false record within the bank forming part of the record of the bank and involved putting the bank and other individuals at risk of heavy financial losses.'' Mr. Pert added that Todd's co-accused shared the blame for some of the alleged offences.

He said: "The Crown says that each of them was involved -- and dishonestly involved -- in the misuse of accounts over which he had control.'' But Mr. Pert added a distinction had to be made between "people who were dupes and people who knew what was being done in their name.'' He claimed that a tradesman had ended up owing $150,000 because of Todd's actions in his name.

He added Todd had become involved with a property developer and an architect.

Mr. Pert explained: "What Mr. Todd brought to this was the money. He brought to the occasion money, often large quantities at short notice. The Crown says the money was never his -- it was the Bank of Bermuda's or other people's.'' He added that the men needed a lawyer for their alleged schemes and usually used Charles Vaucrosson or his staff and evidence for the Crown would be heard from Mr. Vaucrosson and others from his firm. Real estate agents and other legal firms were also used.

Mr. Pert said of Todd: "It's important to remember, considering the Crown's case, his training, experience, position and power within the bank.'' Mr. Pert added: "He was one of the senior front-line managers of the Bank of Bermuda.

"This is not some humble clerk getting it wrong -- this was the top man who knew what he was doing.'' And he accused Todd of using a firm called Arnest Ltd. -- where the directors -- an uncle and co-accused Curtis-- were his nominees -- as "a piggy bank''.

He said Arnest Ltd. had an account with the Bank of Bermuda and operated from a post office box in Warwick and Todd "dealt with it as though it was a bona fide, arm's length customer''.

But Mr. Pert added the Crown had brought the charges and it was up to the prosecution to prove them.

He told the jury of Todd: "The standard is a high one -- you must be satisfied so that you are sure he is guilty. If your state of mind is anything less than that, he should be acquitted.'' The trial continues on Monday.