His usual mode of transport is by private jet ? but last night multi-millionaire John Deuss was due to make a less-familiar departure from Bermuda in the custody of two policemen.

The oil tycoon ? wanted for questioning in the Netherlands in connection with a sophisticated tax swindle ? attended a short hearing at Magistrates? Court before being taken into custody by Bermudian Police, who immediately whisked him to the airport in a silver Mitsubishi Lancer. At the end of the 40-minute journey ? which included a brief visit to the office of his company Transworld Oil in Flatts ? he entered the building via the airport Police station.

The 64-year-old, dressed in an open-necked checked shirt and black trousers, then went through check-in and security for the 8.10 p.m. British Airways flight to London Gatwick behind closed doors.

Two Dutch Police officers who arrived on the Island earlier this week to accompany him back to his home country checked in for the journey the usual way.

Government lawyer Paula Tyndale had earlier told the court hearing that Mr. Deuss, who has not been charged with any offence and who denies any wrongdoing, would be ?handed directly into their custody? at the airport.

The three men are due to arrive in England early this morning before catching a connecting flight to Amsterdam?s Schiphol Airport.

Once on Dutch soil, Mr. Deuss, former chairman of Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB), will be quizzed about the alleged involvement of his Caribbean-based business, First Cura?ao International Bank (FCIB), in a tax scam known as carousel fraud.

The swindle costs governments in Europe billions of dollars each year as goods are repeatedly imported and exported across national borders and tax payments are skimmed off into bank accounts.

Prosecutors in Europe shut down FCIB, the largest shareholder in BCB, last month on suspicion that traders were stashing hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit tax gains in accounts there.

The Guardian newspaper in London reported that every individual arrested and charged in the last two years with carousel fraud, so-called because goods go round in a circle, had an account with the Cura?ao bank.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner signed an order which allowed Mr. Deuss, of Shore Lane, Tucker?s Town, to waive his rights to a full extradition hearing so he could voluntarily travel to Holland with the detectives.

A warrant for Mr. Deuss? arrest was issued here at the end of September at the request of prosecutors in Europe.

He was arrested last Friday after a two week hunt ? at a property normally used to house the pilots who fly his planes. Mr. Deuss? lawyers tried to have the warrant quashed three times but were unsuccessful.