Millionaire oil tycoon John Deuss ? wanted for questioning by prosecutors in Europe ? is not a fugitive from justice, his lawyer insisted last night.

Attorney Mark Pettingill told that no warrant had been executed for Dutch businessman Mr. Deuss, a long-term Bermuda resident, in connection with a multi-nation investigation into an elaborate tax scam known as carousel fraud.

?I don?t know where Mr. Deuss is and Mr. Deuss has not been served with a warrant,? he said. ?He is not a fugitive from justice.

?Mr. Deuss is seeking justice and so far it appears it has been unavailable to him.?

Dutch authorities issued the warrant in order to start extradition proceedings to question the 64-year-old about his First Cura?ao International Bank.

Mr. Deuss denies any wrongdoing on the part of the bank or any of his other companies.

The warrant was approved by a magistrate in Bermuda last week and on Tuesday Mr. Pettingill tried unsuccessfully in the Supreme Court to get a judicial review of that decision.

He claimed that the warrant was illegal because no extradition treaty between the Netherlands and the UK extending to Bermuda exists.

The lawyer said yesterday that he was still considering his next move, adding that several options were available, including a possible Court of Appeal hearing.

?We are still of the same position with regard to the illegality of this course of conduct of issuing a warrant for Mr. Deuss,? he said. ?Right now we are certainly of the view that what has occurred is something of a travesty.?

He said the Crown had tried to argue during Tuesday?s private proceedings in front of Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves that an extradition treaty between Holland and British colonies did exist, dating back to the late 19th Century.

?Guess what? Since then, 130 years has passed and a little bit has gone on in that time,? said Mr. Pettingill. ?There are other laws and conventions and agreements that came into play.

?We have tried to highlight the fact that there does not seem to be an existing agreement for extradition of a Bermudian citizen to the Netherlands.?

He added: ?So far I have found the approach of all this and the views of the court baffling.?

Mr. Pettingill said he did not know if Police on the Island had attempted to find Mr. Deuss.

?I don?t know what the Police do or how they do it,? he said. ?They need to go up to Mr. Deuss and serve the warrant.?

He said his client, who is the president of First Cura?ao International Bank, the largest shareholder of Bermuda Commercial Bank, would not be contacting detectives himself.

?They have made it very clear that the authorities here want to arrest him,? he said. ?It?s not a case of saying ?we?ll come and chat?. The Police here don?t want to talk. They want to arrest. But he is not charged in the Netherlands. You can?t extradite people to talk to them.?

Bermuda Police Service spokesman Dwayne Caines would not comment on whether officers were hunting for Mr. Deuss.

He said there was still legal issues outstanding and that ?it would be imprudent for us to speak on that while the matter is still before the courts?. attempted to track down Mr. Deuss yesterday ? without success.

This newspaper visited the office of his company Transworld Oil Limited in Flatts but a member of staff there could not say whether he was on the Island.

The same answer was received at the plush new Bermuda Commercial Bank building on Par-la-Ville Road in Hamilton.

Mr. Deuss, a keen horseman, used to rent stables in Smith?s but the buildings now appear to be used as workshops and warehouses. Transworld Oil is listed in the telephone directory as having an office in that parish in Nantucket Lane but the premises no longer seem to exist.

Another of his companies, Transworld Payment Solutions, used to have an office in the Emporium Building on Front Street but sources there say it moved out several months ago.

Mr. Deuss, who has temporarily stepped down as director of Bermuda Commercial Bank, did not respond to an e-mail sent to his First Cura?ao International Bank address.