A Southampton woman appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday to be formally charged with stealing more than $1.2 million from the Bank of Bermuda.

Elizabeth Simons, 54, of Camp Hill, did not have to enter a plea to the 15 counts of allegedly stealing the money from client accounts. Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale alleged that Simons committed the offences between August 1999 and 2005.

Simons was bailed in the amount of $10,000 with one like surety to reappear at Magistrates' Court on September 5 for mention. She is represented by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher.

Yesterday, a Bank spokesperson confirmed that an internal investigation had been conducted before involving the Police in the summer of 2006.

And a Pembroke man with an apparent appetite for codfish was sentenced to 28 days in prison yesterday at Magistrates' Court.

Senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told the court, Raymond Horace Robinson, 43, of Deepdale, stole four 'Chelsea' codfish packages from the Arnold's Express store on Front Street, worth $55.08. On June 1, Mr. Frank Arnold, the owner of the store, watched Robinson put two packages in a backpack. He was confronted and two other packages were found inside his shirt.

The court heard Robinson had 15 previous stealing convictions, which included a previous one for stealing packages of meat from the same Arnold's grocery chain.

Robinson, who said he was self-employed, had nothing to say when prompted by Acting Magistrate Shade Sabir, before she sentenced him to time at Westgate.