The Crown has been successful in freezing what is thought to be millions of dollars in funds held in Bermuda by a man alleged to be behind a bogus insurance operation.

Legal action against William Ledee III ? a man known to have ties to several sham insurance operations claiming to be based in Bermuda ? was initiated last year.

A Supreme Court writ was brought in August in the matter of the public prosecution of William Ledee III and in the matter of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1977.

On Wednesday, Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen said the Crown had been successful in an application for a restraint order on the funds held locally. She declined to say how much Ledee had banked in Bermuda, but it is understood to be in the millions of dollars.

Ledee, who is though to use alias names, is one of several people subject to investigations in the US for providing medical malpractice insurance to numerous abortion clinics across the country despite not holding any license to do so.

Last year it emerged that Ledee and others were claiming the unlicensed medical malpractice insurers were based in Bermuda. The names of the sham insurance firms ? Professional Liability Insurance Corp. (PLIC), Medical Risk Associates RPG and Unimed ? were subsequently posted on a regulatory warning list by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Several state 'cease and desist' orders have been put in place by US state insurance regulators banning the sham operators from doing business in those jurisdictions.

The companies did not appear to have any real presence in Bermuda, despite claims of being based here.