Auditor General Larry Dennis has been reunited with the Bermuda Housing Corporation files which Police confiscated during a high profile raid on his office last summer. The swoop saw him arrested and locked up overnight despite his protestations that he was simply the receiver of information, not the distributor.

Police have never revealed how the master copies of the dossier detailing allegations about key Government figures relating to the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) affair went missing after the investigation concluded in 2004.

Extracts were carried by ZBM News and the Mid-Ocean News last year, revealing that Premier Dr. Ewart Brown and former Premier Jennifer Smith were among the public figures investigated by Police examining allegations of corruption at the public housing quango.

Mr. Dennis said yesterday that Police had not apologised after giving him back the documents nor is the Police investigation over.

He told The Royal Gazette: "I understand Police are keeping their options are open they haven't said the investigation has stopped.

"But I understand there won't be any more problems. I don't know why they are leaving the options open."

Asked about how he felt getting the documents back after such a well-publicised tug-of-war he said: "The episode is something I will never forget. I am pleased that the conclusion has come to at least this.

"I am not looking for an apology. They did what they felt they needed to at the time."

Asked if all the files were back with him he said: "I had a quick look through them and as far as I know it included all the documents that were removed."

However Mr. Dennis has been told some of the papers are copies of what was taken as the originals were destroyed during forensic tests when the Police sent them away for fingerprint testing.

He doesn't know if the case has set a precedent and hopes in future courts will decide if Police should be granted access to an Auditor General's files. When Police took his files there was no such hearing.

Mr. Dennis added: "I have always maintained that if a court ruled the documents had to be turned over I would have done so willingly. That's happened twice in Canada."

Mr. Dennis said Police had only looked at the rights of the Commissioner but had ignored the right of the Auditor General to collect information.

He said Police had taken a section from the Auditor General's Act which said documents were not confidential during a criminal investigation but he said a court should have ruled that was the case after weighing the Auditor General's rights.

Police have maintained that the documents were stolen.

"For me they weren't stolen, they were given to me. I certainly didn't steal them. But more importantly they were copies and copies cannot be stolen. I have already explained that in my report. And there was a common interest in me seeing those documents."

But he said he was no longer interested in continuing with information in those files. "I have got the documents back, there is enough information out there if anyone felt something was untoward for them to do something."

In August, Police Commissioner George Jackson said he believed the BHC files were stolen — and that someone could face criminal charges.

Mr. Jackson had refuted Mr. Dennis' claims that his arrest amid theft allegations last summer was politically motivated.

Mr. Dennis, who is the Island's independent financial watchdog, saw his office raided twice last year by Police hunting the missing BHC dossier.

In the first swoop on June 18, Police also searched his home and detained him for 24 hours. His bail was lifted in December after detectives "exhausted their inquiries".

Earlier this year Mr. Dennis called for greater autonomy for his office and complained about increased political inference — prompting Mr. Jackson to defend the arrest and his decision to join forces with the Government in attempting to stop the media printing details from the leaked files.

That attempt ended up in the Privy Council in London but failed, landing taxpayers with a six-figure bill.

Mr. Dennis said this year that he had not worked with Police since his arrest and was unlikely to ever ask them again to investigate any suspected criminal activity following an audit.

Police refused to comment last night on whether they believed the BHC files taken by Police from Larry Dennis's office were stolen or whether they were still looking for a culprit.

A spokesman said: "Based on the history of BHC investigation and all of the legal action that has imitated from this investigation, it would not be prudent at this juncture for us to comment on any issues surrounding this investigation."