A carpenter giving evidence in the $1.3 million fraud case against former Bermuda Housing Corporation Property Officer Terrence Smith yesterday revealed that he blew the whistle on the scam.

Steven Barbosa ? who claims he helped Smith siphon off money through a con involving overpriced invoices ? told defence lawyer Larry Scott he realised ?towards the end? that what was going on was wrong. Asked what he had done about this, he replied: ?I went to the Police.?

Mr. Barbosa met Smith in August 2000 and agreed to take on work at both Smith?s mansion in Tee Street, Devonshire, and on the BHC?s houses.

He has claimed during the Supreme Court case that Smith, 45, repeatedly instructed him to submit hugely inflated bills to the Corporation over a period spanning September 2000 to February 2002.

He has maintained that he passed the ?profits? from this exercise to the accused man in the form of cash and goods for his home.

The Crown?s case against Smith is that he took advantage of his position of responsibility at the BHC by rubber-stamping these payments in the knowledge that they were false.

The 46 charges of obtaining property by deception that he faces allege he induced the BHC to pay Mr. Barbosa more than $1.3 million, of which Smith is said to have profited by $924,688.

Prosecutor Kulandra Ratneser has told the jury that Smith spent his kickbacks on a luxury lifestyle including expensive wines, meals and golf clubs.

In his fifth day in the witness box yesterday, Mr. Barbosa was cross-examined on his version of events by Mr. Scott.

The lawyer repeatedly put it to him that he had not overcharged for jobs, and had not given large sums of money to Smith.

The carpenter denied this and repeated his earlier version of events.

When quizzed, he said he did not know why pages had been cut out of a blue book where his business transactions were logged.

He also denied once being admonished by BHC General Manager Raymonde Dill for charging for incomplete work.

Mr. Barbosa recalled one occasion when he went to the Bank of Bermuda in Somerset to withdraw $104,000 cash from his account. He said when a member of staff questioned why he wanted so much money, he told her he had to pay his staff.

When asked about his lifestyle during the period of the alleged fraud, he said that he had a $300,000 mortgage on his Cambridge Road, Somerset workshop, apartment and cottage. He told the court that after selling his Mazda 323 car he bought a Toyota RAV4 utility vehicle for $48,000 which had three televisions fitted in it.

?You enjoy living a bit of life yourself, like Mr. Smith did?? asked Mr. Scott, prompting the carpenter to reply: ?Everyone enjoys life.?

Smith denies all of the charges against him, and the case continues.