The Supreme Court ordered that two Canadian men be paid more than $20 million from an account in the Bermuda Commercial Bank.

Allen Walsh and Hans Taal said a multimillion dollar fraud against them had been committed, "which appears to have been facilitated, inter alia, by Horizon Bank International Limited".

During the trial Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley heard that funds raised through an investment programme underwritten by Microsoft shares Mr. Walsh and Mr. Taal owned became comingled with HBI funds, without their knowledge, and they could in a legal sense trace these monies and recover them. They also contended HBI, through its officers or controlling minds, had caused them to suffer loss of the value of shares they could not trace.

The court heard that Horizon Bank International Limited, which is licensed in St. Vincent and the Grendines, used their assets to secure a $15 million loan in 1998.

The $15 million resulting from the loan was then deposited first into a Bank of Bermuda account and then $9.2 million was transferred into an account at Bermuda Commercial Bank.

In early 1999 a $5 million loan was obtained by using Mr. Walsh and Mr. Taal's assets with the money then being transferred to the Bermuda Commercial Bank account without their knowledge.

It was also admitted that an attempt was made to conceal the trading losses from the plaintiffs and convince them that their assets remained in a New York bank account. In a written judgment Mr. Justice Kawaley stated: "The plaintiffs' proprietary claims succeed as do their claims for common law damages for breach of fiduciary duty and/or knowingly assisting a breach of fiduciary duty and their claims for conspiracy to defraud. The prior claims succeed on the basis that equity attached to proceeds of their assets which were misapplied fraudulently or in breach of fiduciary duty.

"They are entitled to recover by way of equitable tracing US $3,520,392 (Walsh) + $437,687 (Taal) = $3,958,079 together with simple interest at the statutory rate from September 14, 2000 (the LIB date) until January 18, 2008 in the computed amount of $1,215,550.33 (Walsh) + $163,681.81 (Taal) = $1,379,232.14. Thereafter, the plaintiffs are entitled to simple interest at the same rate until payment.

"By the way of damages, and giving credit for the monies received through tracing, they are entitled to receive the gross sum of $19, 252,003.09 (Walsh) and $953,792.83 (Taal), in each case less such amount as is required to reflect the fact that simple interest is only awarded (at the rate of seven percent) until April 21, 2005 (the liquidation date) and not the later October 6, 2005 date of the commencement of the ancillary proceedings."