Mystery surrounds details of legal action taken by the Crown against a man known to have ties to several sham insurance operations claiming to be based in Bermuda.

The legal action was revealed in a Supreme Court writ earlier this month but yesterday the Director of Public Prosecutions, Vinette Graham-Allen, said no further details of the action could be given at this time.

The writ was brought in the matter of the public prosecution of William Ledee III and in the matter of the Proceeds of Crime Act 1977. reported ealier this month that Ledee, who is thought to also use alias names, was one of the principals behind several medical malpractice insurers falsely claiming to be based on the Island.

The sham insurance firms ? Professional Liability Insurance Corp. (PLIC), Medical Risk Associates RPG and Unimed ? say they operate from Bermuda but list no more than a private mailbox at Mailboxes Unlimited as their address.

The three companies and several principals, including Ledee, have come under fire in the US for providing medical malpractice insurance to numerous abortion clinics across the country when they hold no licensing to do so.

Several state 'cease and desist' orders have been put in place by state insurance regulators to ban the bogus firms from doing business. And on the Island the firms have been listed on a regulatory warning list from the Bermuda Monetary Authority to alert the public that these are not bona fide ventures.

Earlier this month, was able to obtain the US telephone numbers for two of those named as being behind the hoax insurers, Ledee and Ignatius Angelo "Iggy" DeBlasi, both of Georgia. Messages left for both men were never returned.

Ledee was contacted at Ledee & Associates in Atlanta and Mr. DeBlasi at Unimed in Atlanta.

It is not known if any of the other principals behind the sham companies could also face prosecution in Bermuda.

The full list of names associated with the bogus companies are Ledee, Mr. DeBlasi, James Reynolds, Matthew Reed, Mishima Murasaki, Bertha Louise Ledee, Judy Frese, Jennifer Anderson aka Brooke Harris, Robert Edward Ledee, Suzanne Suhrie, Charles Bailey, M.D., and Lori and Elizabeth with unknown last names, according to an order in Washington state.

Some of the names are understood to be alias names used by Ledee.