October, first ran into severe financial problems in 1988 but was bailed out by Rothschild Bank, of Switzerland, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Rothschild stepped in via an offshore company in Liberia to rescue the club when its owner, York-Hannover, could not meet interest payments on a loan, says The Journal.

It is one of several points to come out of an interview by the financial newspaper of controversial German-Canadian businessman Mr. Karsten von Wersebe, who ran York-Hannover.

Mr. von Wersebe, whose worldwide business empire collapsed under heavy debt last fall, is currently being investigated for alleged fraud following the disappearance of millions of dollars of funds he borrowed predominantly from investors in Europe and North America, as well as Bermuda.

A court-appointed bankruptcy trustee in Germany has accused Mr. von Wersebe of siphoning between $125 million and $187 million out of his German companies, says the Journal.

The trustee, Dr. Gerd. G. Weiland, also suggests Mr. von Wersebe may have built a system of "shadow'' companies within York-Hannover that could have been used to loot the group, says the article.

This is the same allegation which has been levelled against York-Hannover in Bermuda, which is currently being investigated by the local Police.

It has been alleged locally that large amounts of assets connected with the St. George's Club have been siphoned to a secretive company in Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles.

The Journal says Mr. von Wersebe is also being investigated in Canada in connection with Castor Holdings, a property finance group that went bankrupt last July with expected losses of more than one billion Canadian dollars.

Creditors, who include leading names such as Swiss bank Credit Suisse, suspect they may have been swindled and recently filed a C$127 lawsuit in Canada against Castor's auditors, Coopers & Lybrand.

Mr. von Wersebe was co-founder, chairman and a major shareholder of Castor until the mid-1980s, when he appeared to split with his business partner, fellow German-Canadian Mr. Wolfgang Stolzenberg.

But some investors believe the `split' was an elaborate sham and German and Canadian officials say Mr. von Wersebe borrowed more than C$200 million from Castor and continued to have financial ties after leaving it.

In the Journal's article, Mr. von Wersebe, who claims he is broke, describes Dr. Weiland's allegations as "absolute rubbish''.

And he is adamant that he has no outstanding obligations to Castor, adding: "If anyone is owed money, it's me.'' Mr. von Wersebe claims he is a victim rather than a villain and blames many of his current problems on Rothschild Bank, which got into trouble for breaking Swiss Banking Commission regulations by lending York-Hannover an amount above the permitted level for a single client.

The Journal states: "Although, in a 1984 internal memorandum, Rothschild Bank dismissed Mr. von Wersebe as `showing signs of megalomania', it went on to lend him an estimated $150 million later in that decade, enabling him to build his highly leveraged empire. Much of that money was channelled through a web of front companies in Panama, Liberia and elsewhere that the bank had set up for him.'' Dr. Weiland is quoted in the Journal as describing the von Wersebe/Rothschild relationship as "astonishing'', adding that "it goes far beyond normal ties between a bank and a client.

York-Hannover -- the St. George's Club included -- may have been saved from collapse if Rothschild Bank had agreed to a request from Mr. von Wersebe last July for more funds. But the bank was concerned that it held assets that were already pledged to someone else and decided against advancing further loans, says the Journal.

Meanwhile, the future of the 65-unit St. George's Club, which has a debt of $79 million, is uncertain following its seizure by principal creditor Central Guaranty Trust Company, of Canada.

A deal to sell the club to Canadian-based Trans-America Corporation is in the process of being finalised but this agreement is merely being enacted to facilitate a further sale to anyone who is interested.

"Although Trans-America, through a subsidiary, will buy the St. George's Club, all the shares will still be held by the Trust Company, and we will find a new buyer as soon as possible,'' said Trans-America president Mr. Walter Prychidny. "We feel this is the best way to sell the club, given that Central Guaranty has failed to find a buyer.''