after failing to appear for a Supreme Court bankruptcy proceeding.

Puisne Judge, the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade ordered his arrest on Monday morning.

But Mr. Peniston, who appeared in the court in the afternoon, said he had no idea he was supposed to come to court, although there had been a public notice in a weekend paper of the impending proceedings.

The court also heard that last Friday evening, Mrs. Wade found an affidavit from Mr. Peniston shoved under her office door, and a similar one was also received by official receiver Mr. Mark Diel.

The affidavits were an attempt to explain what Mr. Peniston had done with $25,000 from a local insurance company.

Mr. Peniston, 48, of Warwickshire Estate, Warwick, is said to owe creditors more than $700,000.

And his lawyer, Mr. Delroy Duncan, removed himself from the case saying that legal aid for Mr. Peniston had been refused, and he could not assist Mr.

Peniston because his client had not been in regular contact with him.

Mr. Diel told the court that between April 28 and May 13, Mr. Peniston cashed two cheques from BF&M Insurance Company amounting to nearly $25,000, and also a cheque from Astwood Dickinson for $475 on May 10.

"Under the provisions of the Bankruptcy Act, Peniston had no right to dispose of assets worth more than $300,'' Mr. Diel said.

Mr. Peniston told the court that the $25,000 was money from an old pension account, and that he had given it to his ex-wife Mrs. Sylvia Peniston and their son. He said the money from Astwood Dickinson was an asset that he didn't know he had, but he did not indicate what he did with that money.

Mr. Diel also told the court that on January 24, Mr. Peniston cashed a cheque for $2,700, which Mr. Peniston also claimed to have distributed to family members.

"On January 26,'' Mr. Diel said, "You swore an affidavit saying that you had personal effects to a value less than $1000. When you discovered assets of $25,000 and $1,000, why did you not bring this to the attention of the official receiver?'' Mr. Peniston replied that he took steps to apprise the receiver, but that he was not aware he could not dispose of his assets freely.

Mr. Diel suggested to Mr. Peniston that he had intentions of benefiting from the cheques, because he cashed them immediately.

Mr. Diel said: "Why didn't you ask the insurance company to send the cheques directly to your ex-wife if the money was for her?'' Mr. Peniston replied that he hadn't thought about the legal ramifications, although it had been thoroughly explained to him at another public examination in February that all of his transactions had to be reported to Mr. Diel.

He told the court: "My family is treating me like a charity case. I haven't been able to think of anything positive since these proceedings have started.

I am just being continually harassed and persecuted. I have been unemployed since the beginning and no sensible businessman wants to employ me.''