paid to get out of the Seon Place office development in Hamilton.

"We reached a very favourable solution for us,'' in breaking a partnership with Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan to develop the office building, Mr. Flottl told The Royal Gazette .

Asked if it was true he had to pay more than $2 million to get out of the deal, Mr. Flottl said: "The numbers mentioned are exaggerated.'' However, "I don't comment on our private transactions.'' When he was questioned, the Premier did not deny his company Seon Place Ltd.

was paid about $2 million by Mr. Flottl.

Sir John said Mr. Flottl wanted out after calling for the building's plans to be revised four times. The money he paid did not cover the cost of the revisions, he said.

Mr. Flottl's companies Ross Capital and International Asset Management were until recently Bermuda-based, but Mr. Flottl said he is consolidating his operations in New York and no longer needs the offices that Seon Place was to provide.

Mr. Flottl said some of his traders want to stay in Bermuda, but "I have moved back to New York'', and "we didn't need an office building anymore.

"We had major commitments to develop Seon Place, and we tried to get out of this development, which was really tough for our Bermuda partners.

"The Premier was very fair in letting us out of this commitment,'' he said.

"We got a very easy way out.

"My hunch would be if I did a deal with a private US developer, it would have cost us very much more.'' Mr. Flottl, who is keeping a home in Bermuda, said the Premier's position had nothing to do with the deal. "I don't talk business with the Government of Bermuda,'' he said. "I have never done it.'' News of Mr. Flottl's split from the deal was revealed at a public meeting on Tuesday night by lawyer and former Progressive Labour Party MP Mr. Julian Hall. Mr. Hall said the Premier was being hypocritical when he said he made personal sacrifices to enter public life.