US regulators yesterday stepped up their investigation into Premier Ewart Brown's political campaigner Andre Curtis as evidence of his involvement in an alleged securities fraud has grown.

The Montana State Auditor's Office has found new documents showing Mr. Curtis has played a bigger part than he claims in the scam, in which investors from across the world are said to have been conned out of huge sums of money.

Mr. Curtis' name is due to be added to the Auditor's action alongside that of his company, Harvest Investment Holdings, and fellow respondents including convicted fraudster and money launderer Daniel Two Feathers.

Now investigators are calling for anybody who has had any dealings with Mr. Curtis or Harvest Investment Holdings which may be connected to the case to get in touch and help with their inquiry. They believe many more victims are involved than the five reported in this paper yesterday and that the $1 million figure people were said to have lost is a substantial underestimation.

Ironically, it was a phone call by Mr. Curtis to the Montana office yesterday — to complain that cash in his account had been frozen — that led them to believe he was more involved than previously thought.

Special assistant attorney general Roberta Cross Guns said Mr. Curtis' behaviour on the phone, and his refusal to answer questions, prompted them to want to find out more.

"He phoned us. We didn't call him. We froze the money and he can't get access to it — hundreds of thousands of dollars. He wanted to know why he can't get access to the money," Ms Cross Guns told The Royal Gazette last night.

"We have an injunction and the money can't be accessed. We don't know whose money it is. We asked him to tell us how he got the money. He refused to speak to the issue. His response was very guarded and hesitant, which leads me to believe we need to dig deeper."

Regarding where the investigation goes from here, Ms Cross Guns said: "We are getting ready to amend the action to specifically name Mr. Curtis. We found some documentation that shows he's more involved than he claims to be."

She said of Mr. Curtis: "I think he's sort of in denial. He's trying to say he's done nothing wrong here."

Mr. Two Feathers and his business partner Shawn Swor are already being investigated over claims they convinced people to part with large sums of cash in a scheme falsely promising returns of up to 400 percent per week.

Also named as respondents are the pair's DTF Consulting Group Trust, DTF Consulting Group, TLT Holdings Corporation of Montana and Harvest Investment Holdings. Mr. Two Feathers and Mr. Swor are said to be agents for each of the named companies.

According to the auditor, Mr. Two Feathers was charged and convicted of conspiracy to defraud the US, money laundering and creating or using fictitious obligations in 1999. He served 41 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $5 million.

This October, a Texas resident alleged Mr. Two Feathers persuaded him to invest $100,000 in a deal which would provide a return profit of 200 to 400 percent. The Texan alleged Mr. Two Feathers would not return phone calls and had run off with the money. He was initially thought to be one of five victims, but since then another has come forward and it is thought there are more.

Deputy security commissioner Lynne Egan told this newspaper: "We have access to bank records. The size of the scam is growing. We want to encourage people that if they have invested with Mr. Curtis or Harvest Investment to contact us.

"If investors have purchased a US Treasury type investment with a promised very high rate of return with Harvest Investment, we would encourage them to call us to see if they are victims of this kind of scam.

"People are being lured into it, but it is no way to invest. Unfortunately it's taken the investors contacting us to find the money. Mr. Two Feathers, Mr. Swor and Mr. Curtis are using multiple accounts located throughout the world. We need help from the public."

Ms Cross Guns added: "We need people to be the eyes and ears for us. We can't be everywhere. Anyone who has had any dealing with Dan Two Feathers, Shawn Swor or Andre Curtis, they need to let us know."

Mr. Curtis yesterday broke his silence on the allegations by issuing a complicated press release which the Montana office last night dismissed as a deflection.

His statement said: "Point 1: The Dan Two Feathers Consulting Group being linked to Harvest Investment Holdings Limited has never invested any money on Bermuda's shores nor has the Dan Two-Feathers Consulting Group being linked with Harvest Investment Holdings Limited done any transactions/investments through First Bermuda Security.

"Point 2: Harvest Investment Holdings Limited has its own account with EKN Financial Services and is in good standing and is independent of DTF or any other company who has an account with EKN. Richard R. Borgner who is the Chief Compliance Officer with EKN Financial Services has confirmed this with the State Auditor's Office in writing and verbally. For avoidance of any doubt contact him on 516-396-1234 ext. 2281 or email rborgner@eknstock.com."

Responding to the press release, Ms Egan said: "Point one: it's just a non-sentence. It's nonsensical. We have documents in which Mr. Andre Curtis is signed as a trustee for Dan Two Feathers. He is very linked to this and this does not distance him at all. He's just trying to deflect."

Regarding the second point, Ms Cross Guns said: "It's saying Dan Two Feathers is independent of Harvest Investments. That's not entirely true based on the evidence we have seen. There's a direct link to Andre Curtis."

Mr. Curtis is the chairman of the Premier's Warwick South Central Progressive Labour Party constituency. That office reportedly shares the same fax number as Harvest Investment Holdings.

He has faced much criticism for the way he handled Government's faith-based tourism initiative in 2007/08, repeatedly failing to answer questions over what happened to hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars allocated to Harvest for faith-based tourism.

Only 238 tourists attended the events he spent cash on in that financial year, while preachers from both sides of the Atlantic claimed he didn't pay them.

Dr. Brown has been off the Island, but his Press Secretary Glenn Jones has described the matter as not relating to Government business. PLP chairman David Burt has described it as a private matter.

Anyone who thinks they could be a victim should telephone the Montana State Auditor's Office on 1-406-444-2040.