Dutch prosecutors want to quiz multi-millionaire Bermuda businessman John Deuss about suspected money laundering, handling of stolen property and being in charge of a criminal organisation, it was revealed yesterday.

The allegations were disclosed as lawyers for Mr. Deuss made a second attempt in Supreme Court to overthrow a Bermudian magistrate's decision to grant a provisional warrant for the 64-year-old's arrest.

The warrant was originally issued by authorities in the Netherlands who want the former chairman of Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB) extradited there for questioning.

Mr. Deuss had denied any wrongdoing.

His legal team argued in open court yesterday that it was unlawful for the warrant to have been granted on the Island because no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.

Acting Chief Justice Norma Wade-Miller reserved judgment on whether to allow them to seek a judicial review of the decision. Mr. Deuss resigned from the board of BCB last week, along with his sister Tineke, a director, and president Timothy Ulrich, after another of his businesses, Caribbean-based First Cura?ao International Bank (FCIB), was shut down by authorities in Europe.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of illicit tax gains are suspected to have been stashed by fraudulent traders in accounts at the bank, which is the largest shareholder of BCB, as part of a scam known as carousel fraud.

The overseas investigation has led to raids on properties in London, Holland and south Wales and the arrest of Mr. Deuss' sister.

The whereabouts of the oil tycoon himself, who denies any wrongdoing on the part of any of his companies, are not known and Police on the Island have asked the public to help trace him.

British QC Clare Montgomery, who flew into Bermuda this week to fight Mr. Deuss' case, told Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller yesterday that a UK law from 1870, which would have made Mr. Deuss' extradition possible, had been revoked by subsequent legislation.

She added that if Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo, who granted the warrant on October 2, was issuing it under a later act ? from 2002 ? he should have identified a crime in Bermudian terms, which she claimed he did not do.

"The magistrate acted unlawfully," she said, adding that the crimes cited on the warrant ? handling stolen property, deliberate/habitual laundering and being in charge of a criminal organisation ? were Dutch crimes and were not applicable to Bermudian law.

Miss Montogomery, who once represented former Chilean ruler General Augusto Pinochet, said Mr. Tokunbo had "clearly given no thought" or had not been aware of difficult technical arguments concerning extradition law.

Crown counsel Paula Tyndale argued that the warrant was lawful as long as the alleged actions of Mr. Deuss amounted to an extradition crime under Bermudian law.

Police Commissioner George Jackson, who attended yesterday's hearing, said afterwards he could not answer questions about attempts to track down Mr. Deuss, who has an office in Flatts. "As far as we are concerned, once the matter is before the court, we do not comment," he said.

Mr. Deuss' lawyer Mark Pettingill would not comment on his client's response to the alleged offences listed on the warrant.