The decision by Canadian architects Carruthers Shaw and Partners to sue Government over unpaid fees is the latest controversy to hit the Police and court building project.

In January 2008, The Royal Gazette reported that Canadian construction company Lisgar, which partnered with local company Landmark for the development, had left the unfinished job with a substantial cash settlement.

Government refused to comment on the situation.

There was additional controversy when two "false cheques" doctored to make it look like the then-Premier and the Works Minister received kickbacks were found in the files at the Ministry of Works and Engineering in February 2008.

According to then-Premier Ewart Brown and Minister Derrick Burgess, the cheques were purportedly made out to them by contractors working on the new Police and court building.

Dr. Brown said they were fabricated and falsified versions of two cheques for $14,780 and $10,000 paid out legitimately by Landmark Lisgar Construction to two other companies, Scorpio Construction and Chester Management.

"Those acts were clearly committed with the intention that they should be used to sully the reputation of the Government and to damage, if not destroy, reputations," he told a press conference on February 5, 2009.

Police launched an investigation and arrested Government's Chief Architect in April 2009, but he was later released without charge.

A Government House statement in January 2010 said Bermuda's Department of Public Prosecutions found no evidence of criminality that could be charged in the local courts, but a further investigation could take place overseas into the alleged forgery.

Dr. Brown and Mr. Burgess said in a subsequent statement that the cheques were produced in Canada, and they would "seek redress" in the courts there.

A later report by the Public Accounts Committee suggested the episode could have been the work of "disgruntled workers".

Meanwhile, the Court and Police building project remains incomplete. The most recent cost update for the project put it at $91 million, compared to the $75 million original estimate.

It was supposed to open in August this year, but the most recent update given by Mr. Burgess said it is due to be completed early next year.