.

Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Randy Horton recentlydenied Bermudians the right to sell their property to foreign buyers, and he condemned the widespread use of legally ambiguous "fronting" arrangements.

A source alleged that Ace was "one of the major culprits", and suggested that the Foundation had acquired as many as ten properties, but Ace insisted that almost all of the properties were rented at market rates to people who did not work for Ace.

It was suggested the purchase in 2002 of Tucker's Town beachfront property Rock Merrill for the use of Mr. Greenberg, for a reported $6 million, meant that the Government did not receive some $1.3 million of taxes which Mr. Greenberg would have been liable to pay if he had bought the property directly from the previous non-Bermudian owner.

However, a realtor said that, as the Foundation was set up to benefit Bermudians, it was reasonable that it should have the power to buy properties available to Bermudians or non-Bermudians.

"Your information may be fairly accurate, but in defence of Ace, given what the company has done for the island, these property purchases are just more good investments in Bermuda. They don't deserve to get grief for this."

The Foundation bought a number of properties on Woodbourne Avenue, two of which are used for the Ace nursery. It also developed the luxury Woodbourne Place condominiums across the street from the Ace building, which are mostly rented to people who do not work for Ace. The rental receipts from that property form part of the funds available for charitable purposes.

The most recent acquisitions by the Foundation were a number of properties at Tucker's Point, but Ace Foundation executive director Ralph Richardson said that none of the three Tucker's Point properties was rented to Ace executives.

Ace has been drawn into New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's investigation of bid-rigging and price-fixing within the insurance industry and is reported to have received some 43 subpoenas. Mr. Greenberg's father and brother, Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, formerly of AIG, and Jeffrey, formerly of the Marsh Companies, have both been forced from their positions, and "Hank" Greenberg may face prosecution for alleged improprieties.

Since its inception in 1997, the Ace Foundation has given "well in excess of $10 million to local charities", according to the company's communications director.

"The Ace Foundation supports as many as 70-plus charities from a broad cross-section of the charitable community in a single year, with amounts ranging from $500 to $100,000," she said.

The recipients include the Bermuda National Trust, The Physical Abuse Centre, De Boys Day Out, TB Cancer and Health, The Family Centre, PALS, The Salvation Army, Youth Net and WindReach.

"While we continue to support many charities in the island, the Ace Foundation is concentrating its focus on helping Bermuda youth achieve success through meaningful careers with the Career Paths Initiative," said the spokeswoman, referring to a recent partnership with the Ministry of Education which aims to encourage Bermuda's youth to achieve long-term career success.

The spokeswoman would not name the eight people on the Foundation board, but said that seven of them were Bermudian.

She explained: "Under the Ace Foundation's Declaration of Trust, it has the right to purchase and rent Bermuda property. The Ace Foundation owns several properties around the island. These investments in Bermuda real estate were made for the purpose of growing (its) ability to fund charitable endeavours in Bermuda. The properties are all leased at market rate to mostly non-Ace persons or entities.

"Of particular note is the recently-renovated Woodbourne Place ? its rental generates revenue that is used to continue to fund the Ace Foundation's philanthropic activities in the Bermuda community.

The spokeswoman said that these investments by the Foundation are intended as a long-term endowment to Bermuda. In the short term, the loans to finance the purchase of the properties must be repaid, allowing for a percentage of of the rental income to go into the Foundation funds.

"However, in the long term, the Ace Foundation will own these properties outright, and therefore all revenue generated from the rental of the properties will go into the Foundation's funds," she advised, "and in turn will be directed into charitable community activities in Bermuda."

Mr. Richardson added that only three of the Foundation properties were being rented to Ace executives. He said that, in addition to the support given to the charitable causes already mentioned, the Foundation also funded several educational programmes in the community, such as the Bermuda Foundation for Insurance Studies, the Madeleine Joell Nest Egg Fund, which provides educational grants of up to $10,000 per year to eligible primary schools; the Robert Clements / Ace Scholars Programme, which provides financial assistance to selected students pursuing industry-related degrees; and the B-TEC initiative, which provides IT-related studies in the senior public schools.

A source said: "Every penny goes back into the community."