His name has been linked with several high-profile luxury resorts in Turks and Caicos — but Patrick Ellis seems reluctant to talk about his involvement with any of them.

The hotels themselves also seem less than keen to discuss the part Mr. Ellis played in their development — despite being contacted numerous times by this newspaper to do so.

When it was revealed last month that Premier Ewart Brown had asked Southlands Ltd., the potential developers of Morgan's Point, to meet with Mr. Ellis in New York with a view to working with him, The Royal Gazette went on a fact-finding mission.

Government provided little information except to say that Mr. Ellis developed the five-star Amanyara in Turks and Caicos (TCI) and spoke for the Aman brand. We approached the Amanyara, an Amanresorts hotel, and asked if Mr. Ellis helped to build it.

Tania Rydon, one of the managers at the Providenciales resort, told us: "I don't think it's something I should be talking about. There is no official comment from Amanyara."

We tried for several weeks to get an answer from the Amanresorts press office in Hong Kong, but media communications manager Anjali Nihalchand never replied again after writing in a February 25 e-mail: "I am trying to locate someone on the development side of our company to find out Mr Ellis's involvement with Amanyara."

Ms Rydon directed us to a woman called Foluso Ladejobi, of business consulting service The Source, whom she said worked with Mr. Ellis in TCI.

Ms Ladejobi told us in an e-mail that Mr. Ellis negotiated the airport development contract in Providenciales with the British Government "which paved the way for future development in the islands".

She didn't answer further questions about him or provide a biography but she did e-mail an April 2003 article from the Turks & Caicos Weekly News.

The piece described Mr. Ellis as a developer based in Monte Carlo and the "visionary" who brought the luxury Amanresorts hotel chain to TCI after a long involvement with the Caribbean island.

It goes on: "Patrick Ellis arduously began the development of Club Med. The Club Med in Turks & Caicos became the most successful Club Med in operation.

"Nearly ten years later, in 1989, Mr Ellis created Parrot Cay. Parrot Cay today is considered one the most exclusive resorts in the world, putting Turks & Caicos on the map as the destination of the super rich and famous.

"For these projects to take place, Mr. Ellis negotiated with the UK Government to finance the international airport of Providenciales to enable visitors and residents to come and go from the island, incrementally increasing the tourism that the island relies on."

The newspaper story says Mr. Ellis established Caicos Resorts Ltd., a business working "in partnership with other developers and private investors who have like-minded interest in hotel development and partnership".

A call to Jeff Morgan, general manager of Parrot Cay, a COMO hotel which opened in December 1998, failed to confirm any link.

"I have to say, off the top of my head, that I would not be able to confirm that," said Mr. Morgan, when asked if Mr. Ellis developed the resort. We are unable to confirm that. He may have been involved in the initial acquisition for the owners. We don't discuss who the owners are."

Alice Marshall, from the hotel's New York PR agency, said: "I was with the project from the beginning — I don't ever remember hearing his name. He may have been involved in a more commercial sense.

"I have never heard his name in the ten-plus years I have worked for the hotel. Maybe he was behind the scenes in some way."

Club Med public relations director Kate Moeller said: "I checked in with our head of construction for the zone and he had never heard of Patrick Ellis."

A Google search unearthed a June 2008 article, again from the Turks and Caicos Weekly News, which reported that Mr. Ellis was partnering with General Hotel Management (GHM) to create a world class resort called The Tanai.

GHM's corporate PR coordinator Sheladina Joseph told us on March 2: "The Tanai project is currently put on hold till further notice."

Additional questions elicited no response and it was not possible to get a comment from French construction firm Bouygues, which was contracted to build The Tanai.

Further Googling led to the transcripts for the Commission of Inquiry hearings held into alleged corruption in TCI, during which Mr. Ellis' name came up in evidence.

He was identified by Don-Hue Gardiner, the nephew of former TCI Premier Michael Misick, as the principal of a joint venture company called Caicos Resorts Investments Ltd.

The transcripts show how Mr. Gardiner, chairman of the Progressive National Party and an appointed MP, was quizzed on payments of more than $2 million made to his Caicos Group company by Caicos Resorts Investments between 2006 and 2008.

Sir Robin Auld, the chairman of the Commission, and barrister Alex Milne questioned Mr. Gardiner repeatedly about why the payments were made.

Mr. Gardiner said the shareholders in his company were locals — known as Belongers — and that Caicos Group was involved with Caicos Resorts Investments in the development of a proposed project on Crown land in Providenciales.

The hearing heard that Caicos Group had no financial stake in the land but that Belongership was needed for the land to be transferred into private ownership.

Mr. Gardiner, a lawyer, said he put nothing personally into the project but profited by about $400,000 over a two-and-a-half year period.

The year-long Commission of Inquiry found a high probability of systemic corruption or other serious dishonesty by key politicians and businessmen in TCI.

The full version of the final report has yet to be released for legal reasons but Mr. Ellis is not named in the redacted copy.

Dr. Brown said last month: "Mr. Ellis has told us that he has not been asked to testify in front of the Commission and that he has had no business with the Commission."

This newspaper eventually reached the British businessman by telephone on Friday and he agreed to speak to us after the weekend.

But when we contacted him on Monday he didn't want to be interviewed, directing us instead to Cabinet Secretary Marc Telemaque.

Before hanging up, Mr. Ellis, who is believed to be based in Monaco and New York, said: "I'm in London. I think you'd be better off contacting Government.

"We are going to send Marc Telemaque some stuff today; why don't you ask him. He will be receiving information on who we are and what we do."

Mr. Telemaque agreed on Monday to share the information. He said yesterday: "The information has been received and it would be premature to release it at this stage."