ONE of the Bermuda businessmen who worked as a professional director of a front company used to conceal the oil revenues of the Republic of Congo from creditors said yesterday: "We did nothing wrong."

Trevor Williams, chief executive officer of the Consolidated Services Ltd. and his company colleague Arthur E. M. Jones, were hired as directors of Sphynx, when the company was incorporated four years ago.

Around $472 million worth of oil trades purportedly went through Sphynx, but Mr. Williams told London's High Court that he knew nothing about any business whatsoever being done by Sphynx, during a case brought by a creditor of the Congo.

Yesterday, Mr. Williams told the Mid-Ocean News: "In this case, there were things happening that we knew nothing about. Unfortunately, these things happen. We were misled.

"We carried out all proper due diligence to incorporate the company. I think that we (Consolidated), as a company, acted in a very professional way in everything we have done here.

"Service directors in Bermuda are bound to know their client and check into things. This particular client was referred to us by a highly reputable law firm in Europe."

Both men resigned as Sphynx directors in April 2005 when they learned of the courts' interest in under-the-counter oil trades the company was used for.

During the court case, it was revealed that Consolidated was involved in setting up a holding company in the British Virgin Islands for Sphynx, designed to hide the identity of the company owner Denis Gokana, a top Congo oil official who was channelling oil funds through a web of companies under his control.

And the court also heard that Mr. Williams and Mr. Jones said they did not even know the location of Sphynx's bank account, of which Mr. Gokana was the sole signatory.

Reg Rawlins, chairman of the Institute of Directors (IOD), said yesterday that his members were encouraged to know as much as possible about the companies to which they were attached.

Having heard about how little Sphynx Bermuda's local directors knew about their company, Mr. Rawlins said: "I would say that this is very unusual.

"We encourage our members to know what is going on in their companies. I would like to think that most local directors are more aware now than they were 15 to 20 years ago.

"There have been a few high-profile cases in the US that have raised awareness. Directors have to realise that they are liable if something happens to the company."

Mr. Rawlins said the IOD held occasional seminars to remind directors of their responsibilities and their liability. He added that the internal rules of companies were the only hard and fast rules covering directorship.

"The IOD does not have a set of rules for directors to follow," Mr. Rawlins said. "They must conform to company rules, but then there is the rule of common sense and the rule of general ethics."