A spokesman for preferred shareholders represented by lawyer Mr. Saul Froomkin told The Royal Gazette that his group would petition for the liquidation of Televest.

"We were getting frustrated with the delays,'' said the shareholders' spokesman, who asked not to be named. "We just seem to the ones that are being left out.'' The original petition said Televest was asking for its own winding up. At an earlier hearing, a lawyer for three Televest directors argued that the company had never agreed to its own liquidation.

The shareholders' spokesman said he represented more than 175 Televest investors, owed more than $2.5 million. In all, more than 500 preference shareholders are reportedly owed $8.3 million.

Because of opposition from directors Mr. Thomas Burns, Mr. Richard Burns, and Mr. Christopher Donnachie, the hearing on the winding up of Televest and four related companies was initially expected to last two weeks.

The shareholders understood it could take even longer, and might be appealed.

Now, it could be over much more quickly. "We are hoping Julian is going to lie down and play dead,'' the spokesman said in reference to lawyer Mr. Julian Hall, who acts for the Televest directors.

Investors were upset at the delays and resulting expenses rung up by the joint provisional liquidators at Kempe & Whittle Ltd., former provisional liquidator lawyers Appleby, Spurling & Kempe, and present provisional liquidator lawyers Conyers, Dill & Pearman.

"We're pretty fed up and pretty disappointed as a group,'' the spokesman said. "We want the company in liquidation so more money is there to be paid out.

"A lot of people are still very optimistic. A lot of people still believe they are going to get everything back.

"There are some absolutely tragic cases out there of people whose life savings are invested.'' Many investors were upset they did not receive more protection from "the authorities,'' he said. "They thought it was a safe investment.'' Televest, which offered investors annual returns of seven to nine percent on purchases of preferred shares, was owned by Telecheck Holdings Ltd.

Telecheck operated the Signature and Travel Card credit cards and offered a cheque authorisation service to merchants.

The liquidation "chain reaction'' began when a bankrupt United Kingdom company sought to recover amounts owed by related companies CTRAK Ltd. and TBL Ltd.

In February, the Supreme Court dismissed a request to dismiss joint provisional liquidators Mr. Charles Kempe and Mr. Gil Tucker. But the court said the provisional liquidators should get new lawyers. AS&K should not act for both the UK creditor and the joint provisional liquidators, the court said.

Mr. Froomkin is off the Island and the investors are expected to be represented on Monday by lawyer Mr. Andrew Martin.