Auditor General Larry Dennis is to investigate after the books of Government training body Investors in People went missing at the same time as its executive director.

However last night Home Affairs Permanent Secretary Robert Horton denied any allegations of financial impropriety although he admitted efforts to reach Terry Bond (pictured), who ran Investors in People (IIP), had been unsuccessful.

Mr. Dennis said he did not know how much Government money was involved but would start his investigation on Monday after talking to Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton who is off the Island.

The IIP programme is reported to have a budget of around $200,000 a year.

Mr. Dennis said: ?There?s a bank account no-one knows anything about and the former executive director is not with them and might not be in Bermuda.?

Missing items include records, files, books, accounts, cash, chequebooks, bank account numbers, bank statements, an up-to-date minute book, $25,000 of IIP materials, Mr. Bond?s employment contract, details of his pay, pension and health benefits and his termination letter.

Permanent Secretary Robert Horton said Mr. Bond?s contract with Government had ended in July and he had left the Island.

Mr. Horton said: ?He was free to leave, he?s a British national.

?From where I sit there?s been no financial impropriety. When he left we looked for and we are still looking for a number of documents.

?He worked for us for a number of years and discharged his responsibilities very satisfactorily.

?We have no reason to believe there has been any financial impropriety but I accept we are very concerned we can?t find the books.

?I have not been in contact (with Mr. Bond) but efforts have been made.?

He said Mr. Bond had joined Government in the late 1990s to help set up the National Training Board before joining IIP in 2001. He was the sole employee.

Mr. Horton said Mr. Bond had moved out of his Hamilton office prior to leaving and had been working from home.

Mr Horton said he had been away when Mr. Bond left. ?The handing over process was regrettably not completed satisfactorily.?

Last night ZBM ran a story indicating Mr. Bond could be back in Bermuda at the moment.

One former business acquaintance said he believed Mr. Bond had been in Wisconsin getting a divorce and he sprang to his defence. He said: ?He?s a nice enough guy. I would find it difficult to believe he?s associated with anything.?

?In July there was a changeover in Government, you will probably find everything is going to come to the surface. It probably just fell through the cracks.?

The Board of Investors in People hope to continue with the programme, which was pioneered in the UK in the 1990s and is now sweeping Europe and North America.

Last night board chairman Kit Astwood said: ?I am working very hard with the old board members to ensure the Investors In People project continues.

?We are moving to look at privatising the project providing we can persuade Government to give up the charter.?

It is believed Mr. Astwood has put in some of his own money to save the project from collapse after signing up a major reinsurance firm last month.

Mr. Astwood became IIP chairman in July but has never had word from Government about where the IIP documents are.

He said: ?Regrettably Permanent Secretary Robert Horton, as yet, has failed to reply to any of our e-mails, faxes and correspondence but we are still pushing for it.?

The hiatus has left hundreds of members of the programme in limbo and the board must now spend money on setting up an office. IIP is funded by the National Training Board who in turn are funded by the Home Affairs Department. The programme encourages employee buy-in and quality assurance.