Despite initial indications that Bermuda would escape the prying eyes of a joint US Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation into credit card fraud, it now seems that the Island may be included in a hit list of more than 30 countries offering confidential bank accounts.

However, Ministry of Finance Assistant Financial Secretary Ifor Hughes told The Royal Gazette yesterday that as far as he knew, the Bermuda Government had not been approached by the IRS or the Justice Department in connection with the credit card fraud investigation.

On Monday, the IRS asked a federal court judge to order Visa International to hand over records linked to offshore accounts in more than 30 countries, including Bermuda according to a report by Associated Press (AP).

However, Ifor Hughes said yesterday: "From my perspective, there has been no official approach by US authorities to make requests (for credit card records)."

He said that he has been aware of the media stories and noted that Bermuda was often mentioned speculatively as an offshore jurisdiction that may be involved.

He said that the other jurisdictions such as Antigua and the Bahamas that have hundreds of banks were the focus of the IRS and Justice Department, and as Bermuda has only four banks, by virtue of numbers, Bermuda was less of a concern than other jurisdictions.

However, Mr. Hughes said that the Ministry was always cognizant that Bermuda could well be approached by US authorities seeking information on US citizens.

But he said there were several mechanisms that enable the transfer of information, such as the USA-Bermuda Tax Convention Act, which has been in place for at least 15 years and the Criminal Justice International Cooperation Act.

"There are vehicles that they could make use of if they felt they needed to investigate," he said.

The Royal Gazette reported on March 13 that Bermuda was not part of the investigation by the US Internal Revenue Service after a spokesman from the organisation said Bermuda was not included in the case filed in the United States District Court of Southern Florida Miami Division, summarised as: "In the matter of the tax liabilities of: John Does, United States taxpayers who, during the years ended December 31, 1998 and 1999, had signatory authority over American Express or Mastercard credit, charge or debit cards issued through, or for which payment was received from, banks or other financial institutions in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas or the Cayman islands, or issued to persons or entities in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas or the Cayman islands."

According to the AP report the IRS also said that American Express will turn over passport and drivers license numbers for us customers holding cards issued by banks in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Antigua and Barbuda.

The IRS also said that MasterCard has already provided more than 1.7 million records involving 230,000 offshore accounts in response to an October 2000 court summons.