A businessman who called off a ?star-studded? awards ceremony in Bermuda after an investigation showed many of his claims appeared to be bogus has been declared bankrupt in the Bahamas.

Dr. Rudolph King is also reported by a tabloid newspaper in the capital Nassau to have resigned as chairman of his King Humanitarian and Global Vision Foundation.

The claims of Dr. King to be bringing a host of famous names to Bermuda for the June event at the Fairmont Southampton were thrown into doubt when contacted the agents? of several stars and discovered they knew nothing about it.

Now it has emerged that Dr. King was declared bankrupt in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas last month ? the result of an unpaid debt on house renovations.

Judge John Lyons handed down the bankruptcy judgement after hearing representations by attorney Roger Gomez, for King, and Dr. Peter Maynard and Jason Maynard, for Cavalier Construction Ltd.

Registrar Mrs. Estelle Gray-Evans was ordered under the judgement to take possession of all King?s property until a trustee was certified by the court. A creditors? meeting is to be held on a date to be fixed.

Dr. King, who is also known as Rudy King-Laroda and Kermit Rudolph Casito Laroda, held a press conference at the Fairmont Southampton on March 15, when he claimed Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Hollywood stars Halle Berry and Will Smith and Rick Springfield were among those confirmed to attend his 2006 Global Vision Awards of Excellence on June 30.

He said the ceremony would be televised to 185 countries around the world and would also be attended by three world leaders, whose names he could not reveal for security reasons.

But a week later ? after two stories questioning his claims ? he issued a statement saying the show had been postponed.

Dr. King made no mention of his financial woes when he met with advertising team after his press conference.

He told sales executives that he planned to spend thousands on advertising the awards ceremony.

He also said he would be selling tickets to the public for the event priced between $300 and $500 and took a telephone call during the meeting which he said was from Oscar-nominated actor Mr. Smith.

Checks on his background revealed he appeared in court in the Bahamas in 2004, when it was claimed he owed American Express more than $400,000 for an unpaid credit card bill.

A Bahamian tabloid reported this month that King had resigned as chairman of his own charity and was taking a year off to sort out ?several legal headaches?.

The newspaper claimed he was still living in luxury at a friend?s $2 million home and driving around in a top-of-the-range Jeep worth $125,000.

Dr. King, whose home address was given in court as Raymond Road, Claridgedale Gardens, eastern New Providence, Bahamas, was not answering his cell phone yesterday, nor could anyone at the King Foundation offices in Florida or Nassau be reached.