the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

He was accused of abusing his power as a senior Bank of Bermuda loans officer to acquire property on the Island.

The accusations were levelled by Crown Counsel Michael Pert, QC, while giving final submissions to the jury.

He also claimed Todd: dealt with loan applications cynically to enrich himself: details, including the purpose of the loan and what securities were in place, were regularly omitted.

And in one instance the name of the company -- an alleged Todd front -- seeking the loan was typed wrongly on the form; deliberately set out to spin a complex web of dishonest transactions; used a company he set up, Arnest Ltd, as a "piggy bank'' for money dishonestly obtained; used another company, Twin Bays, as a vehicle for funding property purchases; committed a "straight-forward rip-off'' by using a corporate name, F.L.

Enterprises, and giving it an overdraft subsequently enlarged and approved for a longer period.

This, said the Crown, reflected a familiar pattern with Todd's dealings and left the Bank of Bermuda hopelessly exposed; and took former building contractor Kenneth Benjamin's money, placing it into his own company, Arnest Ltd, for his benefit without any legitimate explanation.

This, said Mr. Pert, amounted to robbery.

Todd, 57, of Pearman's Hill, Warwick, is charged with 17 counts of theft, fraud and false accounting, allegedly committed between 1985 and 1990.

Also in the dock are importer Varnel Curtis, 49, of St. Anne's Drive, Southampton, hotel security chief Milton Woods, 61, of Old Road, Southampton, and businessman Cecil Durham, 56, Ramgoat Hill, Smith's.

The trio face charges related to those against Todd. The allegations faced by the four, involving around $1.2 million, are denied.

Last Friday, Puisne Judge Richard Ground said one allegation against Curtis of participating in false accounting had been withdrawn.

He added a similar charge against Woods had been dismissed because of insufficient evidence.

Today defence barrister John Perry -- appearing with Kim White for Todd -- will make his final arguments.

Lawyers for the other co-accused are Delroy Duncan, for Curtis; Julian Hall, for Durham; and Richard Hector, for Woods.

Mr. Justice Ground is expected to start his summing-up on Friday, continuing it on Monday.

The court heard one juror will be leaving the Island on November 7.

Yesterday, Mr. Pert started his submissions by claiming the defence had failed to make any real impressions on the prosecution case.

"The defence picked at the sides ... there was never a substantial challenge to the case as we outlined it.

"It is accepted all of the transactions we say happened, happened.'' Mr. Pert said the Crown had called as witnesses all those who participated in the transactions, leaving no gaps.

"We haven't fudged or dodged any of the issues.'' Mr. Pert accused some of the defence attorneys of engaging in "back door'' attacks on witnesses.

For example, he said, Mr. Duncan attacked the way Anne Richmond had run the conveyancing department at Todd's lawyers, Vaucrosson's.

But he never put that accusation to Ms Richmond, said Mr. Pert.

Mr. Pert said the defence had resorted to fudging issues and making peripheral challenges.

He added the jurors may well have formed a certain impression of those people called as witnesses.

But, said Mr. Pert by way of example, people who testified "against gangsters were not likely to be archbishops''.

"I am not in any way suggesting the defendants in this case are gangsters,'' he stressed.

Mr. Pert said the starting point for the case was that Todd had been assistant manager of loans at the Bank of Bermuda, then deputy, and finally manager. He had also been a member of the credit committee.

Holding such senior posts, Todd knew about the policies of lending and wielded power.

"The Crown would say these offences are designed to make money for Todd ...

consider where the money ended up.'' Mr. Pert said Todd was part of a business consortium known as "The Group'', which included several other players, including, arguably, lawyer Charles Vaucrosson.

He then went painstakingly over each of the 17 counts against Todd, rehashing evidence during the marathon trial.

He attempted to show how a trail of paperwork repeatedly led to Todd.

Some counts related to blank cheques signed by former painter and carpenter Merkell Smith on an account opened around the time he agreed to a house purchase allegedly handled by Todd.

The court heard that cheques were later made out in favour of the Bank of Bermuda -- one for $64,000.

Mr. Pert said Mr. Smith had trusted Todd -- and Todd had abused that trust, converting the money to his own use.

This was an attempt to defraud, said Mr. Pert.

He added in reality Todd wanted money for a house for himself.

Mr. Pert also focussed on testimony by retired builder and landlord Frederick Hendrickson, 75, of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

He said Hendrickson probably signed more documents than the Paymaster General, providing Todd with a "Christmas present''.

One document, signed by Hendrickson, made him a guarantor of debts of F.L.

Enterprises.

Said Mr. Pert: "This poor chap signed anything. Why is he guaranteeing debts of this company Todd has used to purchase land for himself?'' Mr. Pert put it to the jurors: "You may think he is a slightly baffled old man. He signed a good too many documents for his own use.'' Mr. Pert said Curtis had played a role in Todd's property-buying schemes, taking out an overdraft. The pair had driven a coach and horses through normal bank lending policies, he claimed.

Mr. Pert also challenged the testimony of co-accused Woods.

Woods had said his son -- then a bank employee -- asked him to be a major shareholder for eight to six months in Twin Bays Ltd.

But he stressed his son had never explained to him where the money to fund the business was going to come from, or what Twin Bays was involved in.

Woods testified he had signed numerous blank documents, without knowing their contents.

One of the documents was an application to the Bank of Bermuda for a $300,000 overdraft for Twin Bays.

Mr. Pert said Woods could not have been as naive as he made out, pointing out Woods had been 14 years in the Police Service.

Arnold Todd