in Bermuda.

Leonid Minkovski, described as a Russian national, has applied to the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs for permission to purchase the $4.3 million Windy Hill, which stands in 0.325 acres in Pembroke.

It is understood that Mr. Minkovski, whose application to buy was carried in the Offical Gazette last week, is a wealthy California-based businessman.

Labour and Home Affairs Minister Quinton Edness declined to discuss the application.

The official notice of intent is the first stage for a foreigner buying property on the Island.

Government officials carry out stringent checks to ensure the applicant is of good character and financially sound, as well as checking for any criminal record, in a bid to weed out undesirables.

Two years ago, another California-based Russian businessman, Andrey Kozoenok, considered buying a multi-million dollar home in Tucker's Town.

Mr. Kozoenok, president of diamond firm Golden ADA in San Francisco, also considered Dockyard and the former US Naval Air Station as a site for cutting and polishing rough diamonds.

One of the firm's executives visiting the Island was fined $2,000 after he tried to enter through the airport carrying a semi-automatic handgun.

Mr. Kozoenok later pulled out of buying the house, which he had leased since 1994, for "reasons personal to both parties'', according to his lawyers in Bermuda.