Cheri Moore was given her dismissal notice by the housing quango in August last year, documents obtained by the show.

But later, the BHC's board of directors voted for a compromise deal to retract the dismissal and allow Mrs. Moore to resign with a golden handshake, provided she stuck to a confidentiality agreement.

Mrs. Moore had been assigned to deal with Kevin Ming and his brother Kaelon Furbert, who had fallen in arrears with their BHC mortgage, and to arrange a new payment schedule. The BHC is the lessor of the property.

It is understood that Mrs. Moore ended up negotiating to buy the leasehold in June last year and offered Mr. Ming $275,000. The sale did not go through because of a technicality over a title defect.

The property in question is Unit 52, 16 Cedar Park Road, Devonshire. According to the Department of Land Valuations, it has an annual rental value (ARV) of $19,800.

Mr. Ming now lives in a different home, also on Cedar Park Road, and still owns the leasehold on the property in question. He is now renting it out.

We contacted him yesterday and he declined to comment, although he confirmed some details of our story.

It is understood that Mrs. Moore, who had worked for the Corporation for seven years, did approach BHC management to indicate her interest in buying the property. But she did not ask for permission before she drew up the sale agreement.

The BHC management considered that Mrs. Moore's actions constituted a conflict of interests, which violates the Government Code of Conduct to which she was subject.

After negotiations involving BHC management and the Bermuda Public Services Union (BPSU), the BHC board voted in October last year for a compromise deal for Mrs. Moore. The offer included a financial settlement worth two months' salary.

One of our sources revealed that the BPSU replied to lawyers representing the BHC with a request for three months' salary.

BHC general manager Vance Campbell said yesterday that the matter still had not been resolved.

"I can confirm that Mrs. Moore no longer works here," Mr. Campbell said. "It's a matter that has not yet reached a conclusion and that's all I'm prepared to say."

The BHC is one of the responsibilities of Works & Engineering and Housing Minister David Burch. Sen. Burch was also chairman of the Corporation from August 19 last year until late October, when he joined the Cabinet.

He did not answer our e-mailed questions by press time.

On hearing of the case, Opposition MP Grant Gibbons said "the culture of corruption" had continued at the BHC long after the public had been told it had been cleaned up.

He said Sen. Burch should be asked to resign from the Cabinet for his role in the case and the efforts to cover it up.

"The PLP Government continues to mislead the public," Dr. Gibbons said. "It's clear now that the culture of corruption continued at the BHC long after the public was reassured by the Premier, Minister DeVent and Lt. Col. Burch that all was well.

"Not only did improper behaviour continue ? but the Government and BHC continued to cover it up.

"Clearly the PLP Government and the former BHC chairman, Lt. Col. Burch cannot be trusted.

"Premier Scott relieved the former Minister Ashfield DeVent of his responsibilities. The Premier should now demand the resignation of Minister Burch for his clear and complicit role in this outrageous cover-up and scandal.

"Apparently the Government is spending more time covering up and rewarding wrongdoing than addressing the real housing needs of our community."

Why the directors voted for the compromise deal is unclear, although it is known that a confidentiality agreement is linked to Mrs. Moore's leaving deal.

The BHC, founded under the Bermuda Housing Act 1980, is charged with the responsibility of providing adequate and affordable housing for Bermudians. Its primary objective is to assist Bermudians in becoming homeowners for the first time. Four years ago, the Corporation was hit by a long-running scandal which resulted in a special investigation by the Auditor General, a two-year probe by the Bermuda Police Service and the firing of general manager Raymonde Dill.

The Government wrote off $8 million in connection with a period of mismanagement, highlighted by Auditor General Larry Dennis in a special audit report on the quango.

In May last year, Premier Alex Scott claimed the BHC was back on track and that no one could escape the "rigorous protocols" that had been put in place.

"The BHC has gone above and beyond the issues outlined by the Auditor General in his report," Mr. Scott said. "They have gone the extra mile. The BHC is in good health."

BHC board meeting minutes dated August 17, 2005, detail the circumstances of Mrs. Moore's dismissal. The document states that Mrs. Moore was handed her termination notice by BHC finance manager Richard Fox on the morning of August 16, 2005.

"During the meeting, Mrs. Cheri Moore appeared to accept the news well; however, verbal abuse was later directed at Mr. Fox by Mrs. Moore during the process of clearing her personal items from her office and upon being asked to return the keys to her office, the BHC swipe card, and the Blackberry," the minutes state, adding that the letter of dismissal was two pages long.

"Mr. Fox reported that when Mrs. Moore's computer was shut down, her reaction was so strong that it prompted the decision to review everything on her drive."

The minutes go on to add that the staff had been informed of Mrs. Moore's dismissal by e-mail.

And Mr. Fox met with representatives of Butterfield Bank, as well as auditors from both the Office of the Auditor General and KPMG, to inform them that Mrs. Moore was no longer employed by the Corporation.

"The chairman noted that the decision to terminate had not been an easy decision to make; he thanked board members for their diligence," the document adds.

Ashfield DeVent was Minister of Works & Engineering and Housing at the time and so the BHC was part of his remit. The minutes indicate that Mr. DeVent "had informed Cabinet of the situation and Cabinet was in agreement with the board's decision".

Mr. DeVent's successor, Senator Burch, officially took over as BHC chairman three days after Mrs. Moore was dismissed.

Sen. Burch chaired the October 19 BHC board meeting, a week before he joined the Cabinet, when the subject of Mrs. Moore came up again. On this occasion the minutes reported that labour relations officer Oscar Lightbourne was organising a meeting between BHC and BPSU representatives "as the next step in closure of this matter".

The minutes of the mid-November board meeting indicate that officials had met on November 3, that Mrs. Moore had hired an attorney and that the BPSU had put forward five points. The board accepted all the points, except one ? that Mrs. Moore should receive a bigger severance package than the two months' salary already offered.

The minutes state: "The Bermuda Housing Corporation's directors resolved to retract the termination and allow Mrs. Moore to resign; agreed to permit Mrs. Moore to collect her personal effects from the office, and agreed that any reference given from the Corporation would state Mrs. Moore's start and finish dates and the positions she held.

"The board did not agree to Mrs. Moore receiving any financial settlement over and above the two months' salary already offered as she was dismissed from service with cause."

In his scathing report, published in 2003, the Auditor General described the BHC as "out of control".

He wrote: "I am satisfied that in many instances, appropriate value for monies spent has not been received. In addition, control deficiencies increasingly cultivated an environment conducive to financial inefficiency and mismanagement, and in which kickbacks and other fraudulent activities could occur and remain largely undetected.

"It is unsurprising that allegations of wrongful behaviour by Corporation officials have surfaced, that managers have been released for cause, and that senior managers have been suspended pending the outcome of investigations of their activities."

A story in this newspaper sparked the Auditor's investigation. We published documents showing massive payments to contractors, including an American painter, Paul Young, who was paid $810,000 by the BHC in the space of seven months in 2001.

The payments have never been justified by the BHC or the Government.