? Tudor Smith becomes Property Manager at BHC and employs Terrence Smith as Rental Officer. ? Terrence Smith starts work as a Property Officer at BHC. ? Tudor Smith leaves his job as Property Manager and Raymonde Dill takes on the role in addition to that as General Manager Mr. Smith and his wife Veronica purchased their Tee Street home with the aid of a $595,000 Capital G mortgage. Steven Barbosa meets Terrence Smith through a client. The date of the first charge that Smith faced over his BHC fraud. ? Large sums of money are by now being paid by the BHC to Barbosa for false invoices he gave to Terrence Smith. ? Big purchases are by now being made for Tee Street with the BHC money. ? Jerry Robinson joins the BHC as Property Manager, taking over from Raymonde Dill who held this role in addition to the GM?s role since Tudor Smith left.

Also in this month, Smith obtains a further loan of Capital G for $160,000 to renovate his house. Capital G loan Smith a further $245,000. ? The date of the last charge Smith faced over his fraud. ? Michael Dunkley raises allegations about BHC during the Budget Debate in the House, calling the scandal ?the Enron of Bermuda?. He tells the House ?the problems start right at the top?.

Government MP Nelson Bascome later tells Parliament in a Ministerial Statement that allegations of double-billing and kickbacks are being investigated.

The Mid-Ocean News publishes a story detailing large sums of money paid by the BHC to painter Paul Young, Gardener Caven Robinson and Borden?s Carpentry. The paper quotes a source who says: ?inflated bills are normal? at the Corporation.

At the request of Premier Jennifer Smith, Auditor General Larry Dennis appoints a team for a full-scale investigation into the BHC finances.

General Manager Raymonde Dill is suspended along with Finance Manager Robert Clifford and Terrence Smith.reveals Smith has been running a private architectural design and building company out of his BHC office. ? Jerry Robinson leaves his post.reveals that planning inspector Austin Simons carried out unauthorised improvements at night on Smith?s Tee Street home. Also during this month, Smith is called to the Tax Commisioner?s office to be quizzed on his earnings. He is also brought before the BHC board of directors to explain allegations of impropriety.

Auditor General Larry Dennis has passed information from his investigation to the Department of Public Prosecutions, the Royal Gazette reports. ? Auditor General Larry Dennis?s report on the BHC is kept under wraps on the advice of Premier Jennifer Smith, who cites ?possible pending criminal proceedings?. ? Smith and Raymonde Dill are sacked. ? The Bermuda Sun newspaper quotes sacked General Manager Raymonde Dill as saying that Health Minister Nelson Bascome ordered him to award a $300,000 landscaping contract in breach of BHC tendering rules.

Mr. Dill says one of the reasons the BHC project at Southside is running behind schedule is because one of the contractors, Bermuda Composite Construction, was running out of money because Transport Minister Ewart Brown ? who also employed the company to work on his South Shore House ? owed the company more than $400,000.

He also alleges that Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson tried to intimidate him into accepting some of his apartments into the BHC rental stock.

Mr. Dill vows not to be the ?fall guy? for the scandal and defends large payments that have been made.

Painter Paul Young also defends himself, saying he did not get the contracts because his wife Dale Young was a close friend of Premier Jennifer Smith. He said he worked with teams of 13-16 people. ?We didn?t just paint buildings, we basically restored them,? he says.

Mr. Hodgson later tells : ?I haven?t pressured anyone to do anything.?

Premier Jennifer Smith announces she is to have talks with Dr. Brown and Nelson Bascome after the accusations in the Bermuda Sun.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown denies being linked to the BHC scandal, and renews calls for Premier Jennifer Smith to do more to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power at the BHC.

In a press statement he says: ?The recent press story invoking my name in connection with allegations of impropriety at the BHC is misleading, and by implication, distorts the actual course of events.? He says he used the services of a construction company and then disputed the invoiced amount and that his lawyers are now handling the matter.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome denies allegations that he improperly interfered in the awarding of contracts at the BHC. ?I refute entirely Mr. Dill?s contention that I threatened him or instructed him to award a contract to Bermuda Composite Construction,? he adds. ? Housing Minister David Burch announces Government plans to sue BHC contractors who have been ?substantially? overpaid, as part of a clean-up of the quango. Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith assures the public that the ongoing fraud investigation will not be swept under the carpet. ? Sen. Burch refuses to comment on a Mid-Ocean News story that BHC paid contractor Hibiscus Development twice the going rate for a condominium complex. ? Vance Campbell takes over as General Manager of the BHC, replacing the sacked Raymonde Dill. He says: ?I know one of the main challenges will be restoring public confidence in the Corporation.?

Steven Barbosa meets with the Police for the first time.

Also during this month, Steven Barbosa sues Raymonde Dill over unpaid work done at the former BHC chief?s home in Langton Lane, Devonshire. Magistrate Ed King throws out the case, and urges Mr. Barbosa to sue Terrence Smith because he was the one employing him. Mr. Barbosa had admitted being engaged to do the work by Mr. Smith during the court case. ? Terrence Smith and Steven Barbosa are arrested shortly after they appear in civil court. Former landlord Steven Barbosa is suing Smith for owing $22,500 in rent for his property in Cambridge Road, Somerset. Smith contends that he paid a $22,300 for the rent but Mr. Barbosa contends that this money is for work he carried out at Smith?s home in Tee Street. Mr. Barbosa later wins the case.

Opposition MP Maxwell Burgess says he has heard rumours that arrest warrants have been issued for a number of Government MPs. The Police refuse to comment.

Housing Minister David Burch tells a press conference that not all people suspected of playing a dubious role in the BHC fiasco may be dealt with by the courts, as the Government would not spend $1.50 to retrieve $1. He says a number of contractors have already been placed on a blacklist and may not be given the opportunity to work for the BHC again. ? Shadow Housing Minister Michael Dunkley claims that the Government is delaying the Police investigation into BHC for political reasons. The Police issue a statement saying that the investigation is independent and is not taking too long. Former BHC General Manager Ed Cowen claims he was put under heavy pressure to retire after the PLP won power, and that the scandal-hit Corporation was in good shape when he left. Housing Minister David Burch threatens to use parliamentary privilege in the Senate to name those he says have ripped off the BHC. ? Steven Barbosa makes his main Police statement. publishes leaked details of a report on the BHC from Auditor General Larry Dennis, quoting Mr. Dennis as saying: ?Ultimately, senior management and the Corporation were out of control.?

The report says that:

Two Government MPs were heavily involved in dealings with the Corporation without disclosing their interests.

Contractors got away with double-billing and charging what they liked, sometimes double the amounts quoted for jobs. ?The size and circumstances of some of the excessive costs raise suspicions that something worse than mismanagement could be involved,? says Mr. Dennis.

Loans were given to clients and BHC officials without being secured or given Ministerial permission.

Policies and procedures were blatantly ignored.

The responsibilities of the board had virtually been abolished as the then General Manager Raymonde Dill ?dominated? and ?dictated? the running of the BHC.

Government subsequently asks Governor Sir John Vereker investigate how the report was leaked to the paper. reports that the BHC agreed in early 2001 to buy a property from Transport Minister Ewart Brown without first getting the cost independently appraised and without the MP declaring his interests. It says that Auditor General Larry Dennis raised serious concerns about a number of occasions where BHC purchased homes without first obtaining an outside appraisal on the value ? and Dr. Brown?s was one of them. Dr Brown denies any wrongdoing and says all his transactions with the BHC were above board.

It is also reported that another case cited by the auditor involved Government backbencher MP Arthur Hodgson being involved in business dealings with BHC that were not disclosed.

Mr. Dill later contradicts the auditor?s findings on the sale of Dr. Brown?s property, saying the amount paid was a fair price and that it had been independently evaluated. He also hits back at the Auditor general?s report, accusing him of ?incredulous conclusions?. ? Terrence Smith and his wife, Veronica, are released on bail over charges of defrauding Capital G bank of $595,000 and $245,000. They never enter a plea and the charges are dropped by the DPP in June 2004.

Auditor General Larry Dennis, in his annual report, describes the BHC board as ?an extreme example of an ineffective board.? His report into BHC still has not been made public in case it prejudices any criminal proceedings. ? Kulandra Ratneser confirms that he has not received files disclosing any criminal conduct by any politician. The Crown freezes Smith?s assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act, including his luxury home in Devonshire.Police say at the conclusion of their two-year investigation into the BHC scandal that there is not evidence under existing legislation to accuse many of anything other than bad ethics. Consultant to the DPP Kulandra Ratneser says the outcome could have been different under more modern legislation. Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith and Mr. Ratneser confirm that no MPs or Government Ministers were interviewed under caution during the BHC investigation. The case of Smith is by now before the courts.

Former BHC General Manager Ed Cowen says that during his ten months in charge of the quango under the Progressive Labour Party: ?It was obvious that they intended to use the BHC for their own personal gain.?

Mr. Cowen, general manager of the BHC from 1992 to September 1999, said former Health & Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome and the BHC?s ex-chairman Larry Burchall both ?hounded? him to resign after the PLP took power in November 1998.Premier Alex Scott says the Government has taken important recommendations very seriously. He adds that the new BHC management practices can ?withstand the highest scrutiny.?

Tourism and Transport Minister Ewart Brown offers to buy back the Flatts property he sold to the BHC after the Auditor General attacked the deal. He maintains, ?Any claim this transaction was in any way dishonest is scurrilous ?reports that Dr. Brown?s house, which was sold to the BHC for $602,000, was worth half of that according to an independent assessment conducted during the BHC investigation. The government releases the Auditor General?s report on the BHC, which had earlier been leaked to . It states that property transactions involving Deputy Premier Ewart Brown and former Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson did not comply with the Government?s Code of Conduct. It is reported that the BHC has rejected Dr. Brown?s offer to buy back the Flatts property he sold in 2001. Dr Brown had offered to pay the same $602,000 price BHC had spent on the property three years earlier.

BHC Deputy Chairman David Burch says the 2003 Housing Corporation books have been given a clean bill of health. ? Premier Alex Scott says the BHC is back on track and no one can escape the ?rigorous protocols? that have been put in place. ? Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher is taken off the record in the Smith case because she believes he does not have sufficient resources to cover his legal costs. ? The Terrence Smith fraud trial begins. It hears from more than 40 witnesses and examines more than 400 documents, and results in Smith being found guilty of 42 counts of fraud.