The Bermuda Police Service has issued a warning to the public because of an increase in the amount of advance fee fraud e-mails being received recently.

The e-mails ask the receiver to send their bank account details so that they can receive part of a huge chunk of money. They often claim that they will lose the amount if one does not grab the deal.

Several e-mails have been forwarded to Police lately have said that they were in possession of $64 million and $25 million that they wanted to share it with the person.

The author of one e-mail claimed to be Chief Barnabas Gamade, the past chairman of the ruling national Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria and another said he was the Minister of Development in the Democratic Republic of Saharawi.

Both asked for the receivers' bank details to have a part of the enormous amount of money that was available.

A Police spokesman said that anyone who has received one of these e-mails should forward the e-mail to the abuse department of the e-mail provider at abusehotmail.com or abuseyahoo.com for example.

The Bermuda Police Fraud Unit has determined that this is the best way to deal with the e-mails.

A petition has been filed to wind up the former Mermaid Beach Club in Warwick.

Mermaid Beach closed in 1997 when the owners began a condominium development that is now part of The Breakers on South Road.

It was reported in May this year that the Development Applications Board had urged the Environment Ministry to take enforcement action against the Mermaid Beach Club after it began converting two blocks into tourist accommodation.

The Royal Gazette reported the plans were to convert 18 two bedroom units into residential units and that work had begun on the site, which is zoned for tourism.

There was a retroactive planning application which was refused.

The winding up petition for Mermaid Beach Club Limited was filed by lawyers Conyers Dill and Pearman, but the company was unable to provide any information yesterday.

Attempts to contact Brian Alcon of Mermaid Beach yesterday were unsuccessful.

The Bermuda Police Service are appealing for witnesses who were on a Number Eight bus on January 31.

A Police spokesman said that the incident happened at 8.45 p.m. on that Friday evening involving an unruly passenger. The bus was travelling from Hamilton to Somerset.

Any witnesses should contact Insp. Peter Giles on 295-0011 or they can contact the confidential Crime Stoppers Hotline on 1-800-623-8477.

A man who was spotted streaking in a Smith's Parish garden was captured by Police after he tried to escape.

A Police spokesman said the incident happened on Tuesday at 6.45 p.m. at the Kilderry Estate.

When Police arrived they saw the naked man standing in the yard and the man ran off. The officers chased the man and he was arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station. A court appearance is expected soon.

Charged with importing and intending to supply $60,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis, a St. David's teenager appeared in Magistrates' Court to be charged for the indictable offence.

Ricardo Lamb, 19, is alleged to have caught in St. George's on July 30 of this year, with an undisclosed amount of cocaine freebase and cannabis resin which he was attempting to import on to the Island.

Lamb was released on bail, which was set at $20,000 with one like surety under the conditions that he reports to the St. George's Police Station three times a week and forfeits his travel documents.

Another young Bermudian appeared yesterday for drug related charges. Shaun Johnson, 20, of Sandys parish was charged yesterday with possessing cannabis in an increased penalty zone to which he pleaded not guilty.

Crown Counsel Shakira Dill alleged that on the April 9 of this year, marijuana was found in Johnson's possession while he was in the area of The Home School of Excellence which is located in Pembroke. Johnson was released on $500 bail and will be tried in September in Magistrates' Court.

Firefighters have had a busy few days dealing with incidents ranging from medical emergencies, automatic fire alarms being set off and the strong smell of smoke in a major department store.

Bermuda Fire Service spokesman Lt. Dana Lovell said that firefighters dealt with two medical calls, one accident and three false alarms.

Lt. Lovell said firefighters went to a location near the Marginal Wharf Gate in St. David's where a 49 year-old woman was suffering with chest pains.

The woman was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital at 8.13 a.m.

Fire personnel also dealt with a cruise ship passenger who was having difficulty breathing at Beach It, at Fort St. Catherine's, in St. George's, at 4.45 p.m. on Tuesday.

Lt. Lovell said the 44-year-old woman did not want to go to the hospital, but wished to be treated by the ship's doctor.

Hamilton Station's firefighters attended a single vehicle accident after a man lost control of his cycle and hit a curb on Strawberry Hill, Paget, at 5.07 p.m. on Tuesday.

“The man suffered lacerations to his head and abrasions to his left leg,” said the Fire Service spokesman. “He was taken to hospital for further treatment.”

Lt. Lovell also said firefighters responded to the ladies department of Trimingham's on Reid Street, Hamilton, where there was a strong smell of smoke at 10.33 a.m. The smoke was found to be coming from a malfunctioning air-conditioning unit.

And a builder set of a fire alarm at the East End Primary in St. George's on Tuesday morning when he was frying food, Lt. Lovell said.

An an unknown fault at Paget Primary School, in Paget, triggered an alarm at 8.53 p.m. on Tuesday.