AUDITOR General Larry Dennis is expecting to carry out an investigation into Government's contract with under-fire former Faith Based Tourism (FBT) boss Andre Curtis in the next few months, the Mid-Ocean News can reveal.

Mr. Curtis resigned from his post in March after being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to organise a series of faith-based events on the island in an effort to attract visitors.

The initiative has come under constant criticism, with detractors claiming that the scheme has been mismanaged, failed to attract any tourists and has been totally unaccountable.

Mr. Curtis, who also runs Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown's Warwick South Central constituency, was hired in 2006 to organise a number of religion-based rallies on the island. He was paid around $100,000 for his efforts that year and was also given $100,000 to fund the events, which involved flying in high-profile preachers from the US and the UK. He was given an additional $200,000 ¿ along with a $200,000 pay cheque ¿ to host ten events in 2007/08.

But he stood down in March claiming that his work had become a political football.

Former United Bermuda Party leader Wayne Furbert had earlier ridiculed Mr. Curtis' claims that FBT events had attracted thousands of visitors to the island and alleged that the post was created as a pay-back from the Premier for Mr. Curtis' constituency work.

"Mr. Curtis walks around as though he's Superfly and it makes me very angry because he's just fleecing the public ¿ and is being helped by the Premier," Mr. Furbert said.

In July 2007 this newspaper revealed that nearly $200,000 of Government cash paid to Mr. Curtis to cover FBT operating expenses was not used to fund events. Instead, bank statements showed he had paid most of the funds into private bank accounts or other business interests.

It was also revealed that Mr. Curtis approached businesses requesting additional sponsorship for FBT. One executive revealed that he had been approached by Mr. Curtis who pointed out that he had close links with the Premier ¿ and implied that political access could be facilitated through donations.

Both Mr. Curtis and Dr. Brown have also repeatedly failed to reveal exactly how many tourists FBT events have attracted in the last 18 months. And in recent weeks a number of overseas preachers invited by Mr. Curtis to hold services in Bermuda, claimed they were paid, prompting Opposition Leader Kim Swan to renew calls for an investigation into the contract.

On Wednesday Mr. Swan said: "We need Government to explain what happened to the significant amount of taxpayers' money that Mr. Curtis was allocated and why these church ministers have not been paid for their services. Hopefully, the Auditor General will have the opportunity to review Mr. Curtis' financial arrangement with the Department of Tourism and the disbursement of funds. In the meantime, the Premier needs to break his silence on this important issue and address the concerns felt by many throughout the community."

When asked if he would be carrying out an investigation into FBT, Auditor General Larry Dennis replied: "This summer the Office of the Auditor General will be undertaking Performance Audits in several areas.

"Contracts/agreements, services contracted for and payments made thereunder will be one of these areas. Mr Curtis' financial arrangement with the Department of Tourism is expected to form part of this audit."

Mr. Curtis first hit the headlines in July 2005 when Dr. Brown, as Tourism Minister, appointed him as chairman of the Tourism Board. The move was condemned after it was revealed that Mr. Curtis had run a failed business that racked up more than $500,000 in unpaid taxes.

Critics also pointed out that Mr. Curtis had no experience in the tourism industry, although Mr. Curtis later claimed to have taken a number of courses at Bermuda College and had worked in the hospitality industry. Dr. Brown also defended the appointment, saying that Mr. Curtis had "wide-ranging experience in the hospitality business".

Following Mr. Curtis' resignation Dr. Brown insisted that Government would continue to invest in faith-based tourism events, claiming that "we have been in it for three years I think and we are just scratching the surface".

However, according to the Ministry of Tourism's web site, no events are scheduled to take place in the near future. Neither Mr. Curtis nor Dr. Brown responded to requests by this newspaper for comment by press time.