Company collected premiums for five years while they knew the business was insolvent.

"I can't believe they could do something so immoral,'' said one woman, who has been paying premiums for 15 years to help pay for her son's college education.

"How could the Registrar of Companies allow it to happen? It's an absolute disgrace.

"Huge amounts of money have been paid by ordinary Bermudians into a company which was already broke and nobody had the decency to tell us.'' It looks certain that she will never see the $6,000 she would have been due to receive from United Security in two years time.

"I'll just have to find the money from somewhere else,'' she said. "It will be hard but my son has got to have a good education.'' The woman, who did not want to be named, was one of six The Royal Gazette employees who held policies with United Security.

Yesterday, the group was shocked and angered at the fiasco and the lack of information which has been made available.

Another policyholder, who held life insurance, said: "The reason nobody told us the company was insolvent is obvious -- they knew we wouldn't have paid any more premiums. We've been taken for a ride.'' Their attempts to call United Security's offices in Cedar Avenue, Hamilton, to find out what was happening were answered by a recorded message.

In particular, they wanted to know why their weekly premiums were collected right up until Monday -- the day Bermuda's Registrar of Companies, Mr. Malcolm Butterfield, petitioned the Supreme Court to have the operation wound up.

The hearing is due to be heard at Supreme Court on August 28.

Mr. Butterfield, who has been attacked for his handling of the mess, again refused to comment yesterday.

And he was unable to answer whether he is actually seeking to wind-up the parent company, which is based in Trinidad, or just the Bermuda branch, which has never been incorporated as a company.

"I haven't got the press release which I issued in front of me at the moment,'' he said. "I need to read it and get back to you before I can answer that.'' However, he failed to call back. Mr. Butterfield has also been accused of failing to return phone calls by United Security's court-appointed administrator, Mr. Brian Fortier.

Mr. R. Gil Tucker, who Bermuda's Supreme Court appointed provisional liquidator, yesterday met with United Security's staff and began trying to secure the company's Bermuda assets.

"The staff have some clear concerns and some heart-wrenching stories,'' he said. All 11 employees will be kept on until August 18, when some are likely to be retained and others let go.

Mr. Tucker said all 2,000 or so Bermuda policyholders will be contacted over the next few days to explain what's going on.

As of August 3, no premiums will be collected and no claims will be paid out, he added. To all intents and purposes, people with United Security policies were no longer covered by insurance.

Meanwhile, United Security's local manager Mr. James DeCouto denied yesterday that assets had been transferred out of Bermuda in 1989, as indicated by Mr.

Fortier, or at any other time since he took over the branch in 1987.

Mr. Fortier, though, said that he was aware of a request from Bermuda's authorities for a refund of these alleged transfers, although he said there was no proof one way or the other whether they had actually taken place.