The much-anticipated theft trial of businessman Andre Curtis dominated the headlines in early October.Curtis was accused of stealing $130,681.19 from Government between April 2007 and April 2008 in relation to his Faith-Based Tourism initiative.He was but was eventually cleared of the theft charge and allegations that he lied about how he spent the money from the FBT project.At the time of the trial Mr Curtis was already serving a jail term for running an unlicensed investment business.Prosecutors claimed Mr Curtis, once former Premier Ewart Brown’s political campaign manager, stole the money and spent it on items that had nothing to do with FBT. On one occasion he was alleged to have donated $25,000 to his church.Prosecutors claimed other sums went to repay debts he owed to his wife, mother and daughter.Defence attorney Mark Pettingill insisted Mr Curtis was an innocent man who was made a scapegoat due to the public controversy over FBT, which sparked media reports and questions in Parliament.Mr Curtis was also charged with false accounting after filing a budget report stating that he spent $536,845 on FBT.Forensic accountant Todd Boyd said he could find no evidence that Mr Curtis, a father-of-two, spent anywhere near that amount.Several prosecution witnesses were called during the two-week trial, including former Tourism director Cherie-Lynn Whitter.She recalled a directive from Permanent Secretary Marc Telemaque to “release some funding” to Mr Curtis around a week before the contract was signed.The jury also heard from Acting Tourism director Jasmin Smith, who complained about Mr Curtis’s “unprofessional” behaviour and refusal to provide documents showing how he’d spent the FBT cash.After the verdict the One Bermuda Alliance insisted that Premier Paula Cox should take action to recover public money lost as a result of FBT.Governor Sir Richard Gozney also voiced his concerns about “governance and accountability” at the completion of the trial.Invited to comment on the issues raised during the trial after the not-guilty verdicts, Sir Richard replied: “Consultancies and contracts issued by a Minister such as the Ministry of Tourism are first and foremost matters for the Bermuda Government, not Government House.“I would not normally comment of them, but Mr Curtis’ consultancy was not a normal case, as his trial has shown. The trial described a sorry tale. There are clear lessons of governance and accountability, including the accountability of senior officials, to be learned from the story which unfolded during this trial.”