The head of BF&M?s pension administration arm yesterday said a couple charged with pension dodging made full contributions to the pension fund they had established for just ten months after it became law to do so in 2000.

In Magistrates? Court yesterday BF&M vice-president Vincent Chaves testified that Galleria Ltd. ? the parent company of Mills Creek furniture outlet Rooms For You ? began falling behind in payments in November 2000 ? and was estimated to be $73,000 in arrears when the company went bankrupt in September 2003.

Galleria director Robert Dwinnell and his wife Jennifer ? who was managing director of the company ? are charged with eight counts of failing to pay pension deductions taken from staff.

Robert Dwinnell, 49, is answering the charges alone. It is understood Jennifer Lines Dwinnell ? the daughter of wealthy businessman David Lines ? has failed to answer a court summons and is currently in Canada. The Crown is now trying to get a warrant for her. Robert Dwinnell has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Yesterday Mr. Chaves told Senior Magistrate William Francis that the Dwinnells had only paid both the employer and employee contributions that are required under the National Pension Scheme from January, 2000 ? when the law came into effect ? through October, 2000.

Mr. Chaves said that from November 2000 to August 2001 only employee contributions were paid into the fund, although details of which staff members the contributions had been deducted from were not provided.

As a result, the money was put into surplus account as there were no instructions on how to split and invest the funds.

Also in court yesterday, several former Rooms For You employees told the Court that they had been unable to recoup the pension funds that had been taken weekly from their cheques.

By law those eligible to take part in the pension plan ? with eligibility kicking in after a specified period working for a company ? can either receive the value of their pension contributions in cash or have the investment transferred to a new employer.

The law sets certain time limits on when an employee?s pension becomes vested, and time limits on cashing out the policy. The trial resumes in Magistrates? Court tomorrow morning, with legal statements expected.

Robert Dwinnell is the first person to be prosecuted for failing to pay pensions under the National Pension Scheme, it was revealed in court yesterday.

Dwinnell and his wife, Jennifer, are charged with eight counts of failing to pay pension contributions for eight former staff that worked under them at now bankrupt furniture store Rooms For You.

In Court yesterday, Pension Commission Officer Leah Scott conceded that no companies or company directors had faced proceedings since the National Pension Scheme went into effect in January 2000.

The law mandates that companies set up private pension plans for eligibile employees, and match employee contributions.

Last month, Finance Minister Paula Cox indicted that Government would make non-compliant employers ?accountable and responsible to the full extent of the law?.

Speaking in the House of Assembly, she said some 747 employers and self-employed persons were delinquent, by 30 days or more, in making the required contributions into a pension fund.