Dutch authorities investigating the business dealings of Bermuda resident John Deuss have applied to a US court to seek more information - in particular about transactions with a value of almost $138 million from the millionaire businessman's Netherlands Antilles bank.

Details came to light in the Dutch authorities' application to collect evidence lodged with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The Dutch are seeking to collect evidence in the US under the Netherlands-US Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters. In particular, they are interested in two transfers from Mr. Deuss's First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) — of $21 million and $117 million — made in September 2006.

Mr. Deuss responded by accusing the Dutch authorities of presenting the court with "unproven and unsubstantiated suspicions" and added that he believed they were trying to deliberately damage the reputation of his family and his businesses.

The Dutchman told The Royal Gazette in an e-mailed statement: "In order to enlist the assistance of a US Court in obtaining private financial information about a number of Transworld affiliates in the US (including from their suppliers, bankers and auditing firm), the Dutch Authorities have used partial pieces of fact, innuendo, hearsay evidence, and in some cases have intentionally misstated important facts for the sole purpose of portraying members of the Deuss family, Transworld Oil and First Curacao International Bank in an unflattering manner and deliberately damaging their reputations."

In court documents obtained by The Royal Gazette, representatives of the Dutch National Prosecutors Office state: "The aim of the criminal investigation is to determine the extent of the suspects' proceeds of crime for the purpose of confiscating these assets."

The Dutch investigators say it is believed that the money was used as "cash collateral" to support credit facilities for US companies owned by Mr. Deuss.

Mr. Deuss said: "From our preliminary review of the US Court documents the transactions described all appear to have been conducted in the ordinary course of business of the named parties, based on appropriate and legally binding agreements and business relationships."

Court documents add that the Dutch are further investigating what happened to $191 million — the difference between $474 million that FCIB's books showed as outstanding with correspondent banks on September 4, 2006 and $283 million that was subsequently found and secured in correspondent accounts by the Central Bank of the Netherlands after it revoked FCIB's licence on October 9, 2006 and began winding-up its operations.

Mr. Deuss was questioned at length by Dutch investigators in late 2006, as the FCIB had its assets frozen as part of a multi-nation investigation into a tax scam known as carousel fraud. He has never been charged with any offence.

Dutch authorities said after the questioning that Mr. Deuss remained a suspect in their investigation.

Authorities in Europe suspected FCIB had been used by traders to stash hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal tax gains.

In September 2006, Mr. Deuss resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of the Bermuda Commercial Bank.

Mr. Deuss, who has a home in Tucker's Town and business offices in Flatts, owns Bermuda companies Transworld Energy Ltd. and Transworld Oil Ltd.

The Dutch request for assistance, in which investigators are seeking evidence from four banks, an oil trading company, and an accounting firm, is supplementary to previous requests made on March 12, 2007 and August 22, 2007.

Jan Sjocrona, of law firm Dutch Sjocrona Van Stight, based in The Hague, also sent a statement to the Gazette on behalf of Mr. Deuss and for Dirk van der Landen, who represents FCIB.

"Our clients strongly resent and reject the allegations of being instrumental in laundering illegal assets," Mr. Sjocrona said.

"We point out that the Dutch investigation has been underway now for at least some four years, and that the Dutch Prosecution Service has not presented us with a shred of evidence of money-laundering; because there is no evidence.

"On the contrary: we have retained well known and impartial experts who have had unfettered access to all client files; it is their unequivocal opinion that FCIB was compliant and properly took every action necessary to prevent its unique payment processing system from being misused by people with criminal motives.

"Moreover, after almost four years of investigation the Dutch authorities have not brought any charges, either criminal or civil, against anyone or any company."

One of the transfers the Dutch are interested in happened on September 18, 2006, when investigators say $21 million went out of an FCIB account at UBS AG in Stamford. Some $8.7 million of the $21 million was subsequently transferred to another company within the Deuss group, according to investigators.

Three days later on September 21, 2006, an additional $117 million was transferred from two FCIB accounts at a National Bank of Canada branch in New York, it was stated.

The investigators said that despite several requests of FCIB, "no evidence" has been submitted on "to which bank account and on whose order these amounts were transferred".

Both the transfers in question happened shortly after FCIB's offices in the Netherlands Antilles and the Netherlands were raided on September 6, 2006 as part of a criminal investigation into Mr. Deuss, his sister, Martina Deuss, 63, a resident of Berg en Dal, the Netherlands, and FCIB for suspected money laundering, fraud, and banking without a licence in the Netherlands.

Mr. Sjocrona said that impartial experts "found convincing evidence that John Deuss' 'tone from the top' always was that First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) only wanted to deal with legitimate clients engaged in legitimate business".

"There is a huge amount of evidence in that respect," Mr. Sjocrona added. "When the Dutch authorities raided FCIB's and related companies premises it's Know-Your-Customer and Enhanced Due Diligence requirements and procedures were second to none. At the time FCIB's compliance was years ahead of what other international banks had to offer in that respect. All of that has been destroyed by the unwarranted actions of the Dutch authorities.

"This new action in the US by the Dutch law enforcement authorities is extremely detrimental to the businesses John Deuss is running. The transactions that are being mentioned in the documents the Dutch have submitted to the US are all transactions in the ordinary line of business of the FCIB and the other parties mentioned."