Former Berkeley School contractor Pro-Active was ordered to pay Government more than $2 million in legal fees and more than $13 million in restitution, as a result of hearings last year.

Works & Engineering Permanent Secretary Robert Horton yesterday confirmed the figures, adding there was little chance Government would recuperate the funds as the company might be declared insolvent.

Mr. Horton said Government was awarded $13,212,438 in the arbitration hearing that ended last December, and that the Supreme Court ordered Pro-Active to pay Government $2,408,385.70 in legal costs.

The Permanent Secretary's comments are the first official ones on the amount awarded in the proceedings, which began in 2004 after Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd. was axed from the Berkeley project. The company claimed it had been wrongfully terminated, but proceedings held behind closed doors at the behest of Government ruled against that belief.

In January, Pro-Active applied for permission to appeal the outcome of the arbitration. Said Mr. Horton yesterday: "The likelihood of Government collecting the awarded damages and costs against Pro-Active is slim because of Pro-Active's likely insolvency."

The news comes with this week's revelation that Police have completed a five-year investigation into the use of $700,000 of public funds given to the Pro-Active.

Auditor General Larry Dennis confirmed the inquiry had finished, although Police would not reveal whether the file had been sent to the Department of Public Prosecution. The money, intended to serve as insurance should anything go wrong with the Berkeley project, had been posted by Union Asset Holdings (UAH), a subsidiary of the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU).

Yesterday, Mr. Horton said he was unaware of the investigation. Pro-Active won the Berkeley contract in 2001, promising to complete the school by September 2003 for about $70 million. They were sacked however, following several delays and a spiralling budget. When the school was eventually completed by Somers Construction in 2006, its final price tag was near $125m.

There is speculation the BIU could be liable for $6.5 million of the $13 million awarded to Government. Auditor General Larry Dennis raised flags about the UAH bond in a special report on the Berkeley Project, submitted to the Speaker of the House in 2002.

At that time he claimed the Ministry of Works & Engineering had failed to provide a receipt proving how the money was spent and that Cabinet awarded the contract to Pro-Active before a bond had been secured, despite the fact that it was a prerequisite of the job.

Asked for further comment this week, he said the information would be part of his 2008 report.

BIU president Chris Furbert has refused to comment on the investigation. A call and e-mail to Pro-Active's lawyers, Bean and Associates, were not returned last night.