Mystery surrounds a lawsuit launched by the man who had been named CEO of a fledgling Bermuda airline venture that has never got off the ground.

The suit was made public in a Supreme Court writ earlier this month, revealing that Rex Lezard is suing KLC Ltd. and Bermuda Star Ltd. ? the company behind much talked about plans for the Island?s own airline, Air Bermuda.

The Royal Gazette has been trying to contact Mr. Lezard through his lawyer and through a family member in the UK since last week, but has been unable to reach him to ask details of the suit.

Bermuda Star Ltd. founder Leopold Kuchler also did not return several telephone calls to his home in Warwick.

In 2002, Mr. Kuchler said Mr. Lezard had been appointed CEO of the company.

But little else is known about Mr. Lezard, except that he has worked around the world for various airlines in a management capacity, and appears to have done so several times through appointments by Speedwing, the one-time consulting arm of British Airways.

Old news reports put Mr. Lezard as working in various places, including Ghana, India and Kazakhstan.

Although Mr. Kuchler told The Royal Gazette in February that Air Bermuda should take off by this summer, it was last week revealed that he has made no progress since that time in securing approval from authorities.

Earlier this year, he divulged that CFO, Mike Norton, had been appointed to the venture, saying it was backed by $30 million in private funding from international investors.

With the money in place, Mr. Kuchler said he was ironing out a few details before officially launching the airline with an inaugural flight to Manchester and Munich during the summer months.

Also in February, Mr. Kuchler said the various licences needed were ?in process? but chairman of Bermuda?s Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) Austin Thomas said then that the committee was still waiting for more information from the company.

The fledgling company needs to be licensed in Bermuda by the Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) and be given regulatory approval by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

However, CAA technical officers have still not made a recommendation to the ATLB to allow them to make a decision, Mr. Thomas said.

And until the board receives the information ? which it has been waiting for since December, 2002 ? it cannot decide whether to licence Bermuda Star.

Last week, Mr. Thomas said there had been no developments, with the authority still waiting on Mr. Kuchler for information.

Although details on the suit from Mr. Lezard are unknown, it is just another legal matter weighing down Mr. Kuchler, who has been faced with numerous writs being filed against him in the last year.

But Mr. Kuchler said in February that legal woes would not ground his efforts to get the airline airborne.

Mr. Kuchler told The Royal Gazette he had no comment to make on the writs, except to cite them as ?history?.

The three writs previously filed ? from Veronica Williams, Anton Straka and T&D Financial Services ? may be from investors and creditors seeking to either recoup monies invested in the project, after questions arose over whether the venture would take off, or for non-payment of fees related to Bermuda Star?s incorporation.

The total amount of the debt being sought through the writs was not known, but it is understood to stand in excess of $100,000.

One of those bringing action against Mr. Kuchler confirmed that the matter had not been put behind them, as Mr. Kuchler claimed.

?I wish this matter would be history. But Mr. Kuchler has so far not chosen to end it by paying up (as agreed)?, said Mr. Straka, an early investor in a predecessor company of the proposed airline. Mr. Straka had pulled out just before September 11 to pursue other investment opportunities.