Austrian financier Wolfgang Flottl may have used a ?fronting? arrangement to skirt Bermuda immigration laws it has emerged, calling into question the validity of a Tucker?s Town real estate deal more than a decade ago.

Mr. Flottl, who now spends much of his time in Manhattan, in the 1990s controlled a Bermuda-based trading empire. To go with the lavish lifestyle he and his coterie of well-paid money managers kept, Mr. Flottl bought an estate in exclusive Tucker?s Town. Several years later he swapped it for a finer property.

He had to give up one to have the other under Bermuda immigration laws that stipulate that foreigners can only be licensed to own one property.

Mr. Flottl was given permission to close his deal for Castle Point, the more grand property, if he sold Sounion West, the property he already owned, within a year.

He lived in Sounion ? a sprawling home that boasts a swimming pool, pool house and direct access to a private beach ? while plotting the redevelopment of the $23 million Castle Point, an eight-acre estate that comprises a dock and three beaches, on the end of the Tucker?s Town peninsula. His licence to own Castle Point was secured when he sold Sounion.

Now it appears Sounion?s sale may not have been legitimate. A secret agreement uncovered this month ? after an investigation into the Austrian businessman?s dealings by authorities in his home country was launched ? raises evidence that Mr. Flottl likely remains Sounion West?s beneficial owner.

Records list Julie Jones, who was his secretary, as the property?s buyer.

The price Mrs. Jones paid, or any other details of the transaction, don?t appear to have been lodged with the Registry General.

Sounion is currently valued at around $15 million.

Details of the until-now secret pact, between Austrian Bank fur Arbeit und Wirtschaft (Bawag) and Mr. Flottl, include information that indicates Mr. Flottl has exclusive use of the Sounion property. Mrs. Jones, an American who gained Bermuda status by marriage, lives in Paget.

And under the Bawag agreement, inked in a 2000 meeting between Mr. Flottl and then bank head Helmut Elsner, Mr. Flottl confessed to losing more than $1 billion of the bank?s money. And he agreed to hand over property and valuables, including Castle Point and Sounion West, worth several hundred million dollars as part payment for the debt, according to an April 2 report in Austrian publication Profil, citing sources within Bawag.

Bawag?s lien against the two Bermuda properties doesn?t appear to have been exercised by the Austrian trade union federation ? the bank?s owners. And Mr. Flottl and his guests appear to still use Sounion West, while his other property, Castle Point, has fallen into disrepair.

Mrs. Jones, reached at her more modest home (the Annual Rental Value of that property is $114,000 compared to Sounion West?s $318,000 ARV), confirmed she owns the Tucker?s Town estate.

?I cannot comment at all,? Mrs. Jones said, when asked how a property she owns could be included in Bawag?s lien against Mr. Flottl.

Asked if the sale was a legal transaction, she said: ?It absolutely was. I must go now.?

Immigration authorities told they were not able to comment on individual cases. Government is currently working to tighten legislation to crack down on individuals and trust formations used by non-Bermudians to acquire homes and land reserved for Bermudians.

?There are always people out there looking to beat the law,? Labour, Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton said in an earlier 2006 interview. An attempt two years ago to bring parties to justice in a suspected fronting arrangement failed after search warrant requests were quashed. Legislative amendments aim to increase the prospect of successful prosecutions against both Bermudian and foreign parties involved in fronting arrangements.

Besides going against the law, the arrangements can also cheat Government of revenues because Bermudians aren?t required to pay for a licence to own property.

Mr. Flottl could not be reached for comment on this story. Calls and e-mails over the last week to his Bermuda-based representative, New York and Austrian lawyers were not returned. Mr. Flottl?s Manhattan telephone number is unpublished.

Martin Goldenberg, one of Mr. Flottl?s New York lawyers, told several weeks ago his client was guilty of no wrongdoing in the separate Austrian matter.

Prosecutors there have alleged fraud may have been involved in his squander of Bawag?s funds. A Vienna judge last week turned down a request for an arrest warrant for Mr. Flottl. That decision is being appealed.