A painter and carpenter yesterday told a court how he was approached by his boss to buy a house he was working on.

And he said the purchase was handled by former Bank of Bermuda chief Arnold Todd -- charged in Supreme Court on 17 counts of theft, fraud and false accounting.

Merkell Smith told Supreme Court, Delro Construction boss Delmont Talbot approached him when he was working on Windswept Cottage in St. George's in 1985.

And he said he later went to the home of Todd to discuss buying the house, which was being renovated by Delro, from Mr. Talbot for $230,000.

Mr. Smith added: "Initially what had happened, I was told I would buy the property in my name and they would make the payments -- Mr. Delmont Talbot and Mr. Arnold Todd.'' Mr. Smith admitted he had not owned property before, so had no experience of buying a house.

He told Puisne Judge Richard Ground that he asked if the deal was legal and had been told it was.

Mr. Smith identified a Bank of Bermuda loan form dating from August 1995 as being in his name but added as far as he could remember, he was not present when it was filled in.

Mr. Smith said his personal details were correct on the form -- but added that he did not have a substantial income from rents or $60,000 on deposit, as listed.

And in answer to questions from Crown counsel Michael Pert, he said that as far as he could recall, that information had never been supplied by him.

He also identified a promissory note to the Bank of Bermuda for more than $256,000 and agreed it had been signed by him -- as he remembered it, at the bank in the presence of Todd.

But he added: "As far as I know, when I signed it this writing wasn't on it.'' And he insisted he would not have knowingly signed an undertaking to repay that size of loan.

Mr. Smith was also shown a $125,000 mortgage agreement on the St. George's property in his name dating from July 1995 -- a week before the date on the Bank of Bermuda form -- from real estate agents LP Gutteridge.

He said he had visited the firm -- but said he had not understood that he was going there to arrange a mortgage.

He added his recollection was that the agreed purchase price for Windswept Cottage of $230,000 was to be borrowed from the Bank of Bermuda.

Mr. Smith was speaking on the second day of evidence in the trial of Todd and three co-accused.

Todd, 56, of Pearman's Hill, West Warwick, is accused of committing the offences between 1985 and 1990.

Also in the dock are importer Varnel Curtis, 49, of St. Anne's Drive, Southampton, hotel security chief Milton Woods, 61, of 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 all denied.

Mr. Pert asked Mr. Smith if he remembered opening an account at the Bank of Bermuda around the time a loan to buy the house had been discussed.

Mr. Smith said he had opened an account, but had been sent no statements and had made no payments to it.

He added he had signed three blank cheques on the account at the bank -- but said he never knew what they were used for.

The trial was delayed as English barrister John Perry QC -- appearing with Kim White for Todd -- had to return to England on Thursday on professional business.

But his return to the trial was delayed to after lunch after his flights were disrupted by stormy weather in the US.

The trial continues.