Eight former employees of a now bankrupt furniture shop many never recoup pension monies deducted from their pay after boss Robert Dwinnell was cleared of charges that he had failed to pay those contributions into the company's pension fund.

Magistrate William Francis yesterday ruled in court that Mr. Dwinnell ? a director of Galleria Ltd., which owned now shut down Mills Creek furniture outlet Rooms For You ? had no case to answer.

Mr. Dwinnell, 49, and his wife, Jennifer Dwinnell, were both charged by the Crown with eight counts of failing to to turn over pension contributions that were deducted weekly from staff salaries.

But only Mr. Dwinnell stood trial as Jennifer Dwinnell is understood to be in Canada and has not answered a summons by the court.

Crown prosecutor Anthony Blackman said they intended to appeal the ruling and vowed to continue going after any employer that fell short of pension law. "No we will not cease from prosecuting this type of offence," he said.

Mr. Francis ruled that neither Mr. Dwinnell nor the firm could be found guilty of the offence alleged, although he said he was convinced the pension funds had been deducted from employees and were not turned over to a fund at BF&M that had been established in accordance with the National Pension Scheme.

During the trial, the head of BF&M's pension administration arm said the furniture shop could have been in arrears for pension payments by an estimated $73,000.

Galleria Ltd. reportedly set up the fund with BF&M after it became law in January 2000 for all Bermuda employers to have private pension plans for staff who meet eligibility criteria.

The Crown's allegations against Mr. Dwinnell related to pension payments deducted from shop employees during the period August 2001 through August 2003.

But Mr. Francis ruled that that responsibility for the unpaid pensions could not be pinned on neglect by Mr. Dwinnell partly because he was not sure that he had been a director during that time.

"Although evidence that he was in a senior position, there was no conclusive evidence that he was a director during the period," Mr. Francis said. Government records for the company show Mr. Dwinnell is a company director, as do court documents surrounding the wind-up of the company last October which were signed by Mr. Dwinnell as vice-president and director of Galleria Ltd.

In addition, Mr. Francis said he was not convinced that the eight employees were enrolled in the pension plan. He also pointed out that Galleria Ltd. had hired an outside firm to keep track of financial matters and that it may have been their responsibility to make the pension payments. During the trial, Myles Management executive Deanne DeSilva testified that she had handled the Rooms For You account, but that Jennifer Dwinnell had the ultimate say on what bills were paid. She told the court that pensions were in arrears but that Jennifer Dwinnell never authorised the debt being paid.

Mr. Francis added that Mrs. DeSilva testified that she had been "under the direction of Jennifer Dwinnell. Deanne DeSilva did not speak of any direction from Robert Dwinnell."

He said it had been "proved beyond doubt that Galleria Ltd. did deduct the money from former employees pay" and that evidence had also convinced him that the company had set up a pension scheme. He added: "And I have no doubt that there were deductions made for pensions."

Despite this, and BF&M's saying it had received no pension contributions during the period in question, Mr. Francis concluded: "Firstly, the company itself has not been proven to be guilty, and I find Robert Dwinnell has no case to answer. This case must be dismissed."