Auditor General Larry Dennis has slammed the Police over a second raid on his office this morning in connection with the BHC affair.

Seven officers descended on Victoria Hall at 10.35 a.m. with a search warrant and spent just over two hours conducting a sweep of the premises.

Mr. Dennis, the Island's independent financial watchdog, said he believed the move was an attempt to link him with the leak to the media of Police files detailing allegations of corruption at the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

The AG denies having anything to do with the leak, and said he was "very upset" by the two raids – the like of which he had never seen during 30 years in the job.

"It seems, apparently, if the Commissioner of Police wants to do something he has the law behind him. Maybe he has the Army too, I don't know. He has everything I have. I've told him the truth from the very beginning. Obviously the facts are not what he wants to hear," he said during the raid.

"I think this is a terrible situation. It's a shock to me that we actually experience it in 2007. My staff are now very shaken."

Expanding on those remarks later, Mr. Dennis, 63, told The Royal Gazette: "There were so many Police officers there I thought maybe he needs to call up the Regiment and have them come in there. It was an over-display of power."

The Police have previously stated that the master copy of the dossier detailing investigations of Premier Dr. Ewart Brown and other Government figures has gone missing, and have alleged that it has been stolen.

An international investigation into its disappearance has been ongoing for several months, with the US Secret Service called in to examine documents seized by the Police so far.

Mr. Dennis was arrested on June 18 during the first raid on his office on suspicion of handling stolen documents and refusing to reveal his source. He is currently on Police bail and must report back to Hamilton Police Station on December 4.

On that occasion, detectives seized a folder containing 77 photocopy documents relating to the BHC inquiry. His wife, Nancy Dennis, later attended his office in Victoria Street, Hamilton, and handed a further 1,597 copy documents to the Police.

Mr. Dennis stressed this morning that he has only ever had copies of Police documents relating to the BHC in his possession, never originals. Nonetheless, he believes the Police are trying to link him to 'Son of the Soil' Harold Darrell who has admitted giving portions of the Police dossier to the press.

"They're trying to get something that's not there. I'm sure they're looking for the original documents. They are trying to look for proof that I have given the information out," he said.

"I did not feed this information to Mr. Darrell or to the press. The documents I received stayed in my office."

He said detectives this morning took an invoice that shows the purchase of three binders on May 18. The binders contained copies of BHC-related documents seized on June 18.

He said the officers also took the guest book for his office, other invoices and internal documents from his files. He claimed they refused to let him take copies of the documents they removed.

As the search took place around him this morning, and Police attempted to move members of the media from his office, Mr. Dennis said: "I think it's ridiculous. My staff have not been able to work, this is disruptive."

The Police went on to lock members of the media out of the office while they continued with the raid – despite Mr. Dennis saying he was happy for them to stay.

A short time later, seven plain-clothed officers – plus a uniformed officer called to deal with the journalists – left the building without comment.

Mr. Dennis said he planned to call his lawyer Alan Dunch and Acting Governor Mark Capes to find out what was going on.

The Attorney General, Philip Perinchief, and Commissioner of Police, George Jackson, mounted a failed bid earlier this year to gag the media from further reports on the contents of the leaked BHC dossier.

On October 29, however, Bermuda's highest court, the Privy Council in London, ruled for the media.

The Privy Council hearing had considered a statement from Mr. Jackson that 426 documents appearing to be the source for the media stories were recovered from a utility room at Cavendish Apartments, Devonshire, on June 11.

He said these were being examined in America by the Secret Service, as were copies of BHC inquiry documents taken by detectives during their first raid on Mr. Dennis's office.

Mr. Jackson told the Privy Council some "sensitive files" – the documents upon which he believes the media articles were based – were stored by a former Police officer who has since left Bermuda.

Although nine containers of files were deposited at AF Smith Central Filing in Paget at the conclusion of the investigation, the "sensitive files" were not deposited, said Mr. Jackson, adding that it was unknown where they were located.

In The Royal Gazette's sister paper, the Mid-Ocean News, this morning, whistleblower Mr. Darrell said: "I gave parts of the Police dossier to the Press so that they could inform the public of two things – the Government officials identified by the Police as the wrongdoers in this scandal, and also the apparent cover-up of the investigation by higher authorities."

He added he will not leak further details about the probe unless Government attempt to smear him or target him for revenge. Mr. Darrell, a businessman, is currently on bail pending an inquiry into the alleged theft of the dossier. He has refused to comment on how the documents came into his possession.

When the Police BHC probe ended in 2004, then acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said some of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics due to Bermuda's antiquated corruption laws.

Since the BHC scandal ¿ which is believed to have cost taxpayers $8 million – one person has been convicted. Terrence Smith, a BHC officer, was jailed last year on 41 counts of fraud. He is currently appealing his conviction.

Police today refused to comment on the latest raid on the AG's offices.