The Bermudian agent for a bankruptcy auction due to be held at Elbow Beach Hotel tomorrow has said that she is pulling out of the event.

Zahra Jabbar, who was also meant to be acting as auctioneer for the event, said that she no longer wanted to be associated with the auction and that she was pulling out.

"I feel like I've been taken advantage of," she said.

The auction - organised by Florida-based company Transcargo Atlantic - advertised works by impressionist artists Manet, Monet and Renoir as well as many others whose works would normally fetch millions of dollars.

Two employees of Transcargo Atlantic flew to the Island yesterday.

Ms Jabbar spoke to the Royal Gazette yesterday afternoon after having met the two Transcargo Atlantic employees at the airport. She said that prior to this, she had never met either man and she initially refused to reveal their identities.

Ms. Jabbar admitted she has no prior experience in the auction business or the art business. She said that she had previously met an associate of the Florida pair who was on holiday in Bermuda while she was working at a hotel.

Ms Jabbar did not disclose the name of her original contacts but said: "They liked Bermuda and thought there was a lot of money here and they asked whether I would sell oriental rugs for them in Bermuda. Their family makes Persian Rugs."

She said that she originally agreed, but later changed her mind.

Ms Jabbar said that two months ago she was contacted by the Transcargo Atlantic company who said they were planning to hold an auction of oriental rugs in Bermuda.

"The problem was, they needed a Bermuda agent," she said.

She agreed to act as their licensed auctioneer in return for a commission and obtained a licence to be an auctioneer.

Ms. Jabbar said she knew very little about the inventory for the auction and that she had not been responsible for running the ads in The Royal Gazette.

"They did everything" she said, "They sent the money, paid the Customs duty and sent the advertisements."

In a telephone interview, one of the businessmen, later identified by Ms Jabbar as Anwar Khan, refused to reveal his name but said that he was from Transcargo Atlantic, an "international auction company".

The man identified as Mr. Khan clarified that the artworks are lithographs with genuine signatures and said that the goods were inventory caused by the bankruptcy of a "major cruise line".

Asked why the advertisement did not mention that the "valuable artwork" includes lithographs and not original paintings, Mr. Khan said: "Nowhere did it mention the word oil paintings."

It was pointed out to him that the advertisement stated: "Artists include: Picasso, Tarkay, Dali, Max, Chagall, Manet, Degas, Bragg, Steynovitz, Icart, Zion, George, Renoir, Erte, Monet, Picot, Kovrigo, Matisse, Sharinski, Neiman, Rodin, plus much more. Oil paintings."

Mr. Khan said: "I'm sorry about that, it should have been made clear."

Questioned as to the authenticity of the art work, Mr. Khan said that the art has been authenticated by an independent appraiser based out of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Nathan Iceman.

He said that Mr. Iceman has been in the business for more than 30 years and is well known. According to Mr. Khan, Mr. Iceman was also responsible for authenticating the artwork for a Bacardi charity auction held last March.

Mr. Khan said that certificates signed by Mr. Iceman would be available for purchasers, however he confirmed that Mr. Iceman will not be on hand on Sunday, adding: "He happens to be very busy."

According to a prominent local art dealer, the normal procedure during a major art auction would be for an experienced auctioneer who is an expert on the artists in question to be on hand to answer questions as to the providence of the pieces being sold.

Ms. Jabbar admitted that she knows little about art and asked: "What is a lithograph?"

Asked whether he and his associate from Florida had obtained permits from Immigration to conduct business in Bermuda, Mr. Khan said "We are not doing business here", contending that everything was being done by Ms Jabbar.

But Ms Jabbar said she did not know how proceeds of the auction would be distributed, had never met Mr. Khan or his companion before and did not know the last name of his associate, known only to her as "Ralph".

Asked why he had approached someone with no prior experience in the auction business to act as his agent, Mr Khan claimed all of the auctioneers in Bermuda had turned him down. He claimed that most of the auctioneers in Bermuda are in business with one of his competitors, Samuel Wenwick.

Mr. Khan then became angry saying: "You should have talked to us on a good level. Now we are enemies."

The commercial crime unit of the Bermuda Police Service commented that the public should be extremely wary of buying Rolex watches, paintings, or jewellery without an expert on hand to verify its authenticity.

Sources at the Elbow Beach Hotel said that a room had been booked for the auction by a Vicky Munro of Fidelity First Financial Corporation in Florida.

Ms Munro did not return calls from The Royal Gazette.

A person answering the phone at Fidelity First Financial Corporation hung up when she was asked for the names of the directors of the company, saying: "I cannot disclose that information".

Informed of the circumstances surrounding the auction, the general manager of Elbow Beach hotel, Mr. Frank Stocek said that the same people had held a rug auction at the hotel last year.

He said that the auction had been a success and that the hotel had no reason to question the legitimacy of the parties involved when they contacted Elbow Beach hotel to arrange a second auction this year.

Mr. Stocek said that the hotel was "surprised" when the advertisements appeared showing fine arts, jewellery and watches amongst the inventory.

Immigration Minister, Terry Lister, said he had no knowledge of any work permits being issued for the auction and said that his department would be checking into the situation. He added he was concerned that people of unconfirmed reputation were involved in an auction in Bermuda because there would be a danger of counterfeit goods.