Housing Minister David Burch has threatened to name and shame contractors for ripping off the BHC in the light of the Terrence Smith fraud case.

Smith ? found guilty of 42 counts of defrauding the Corporation of more than $1.2 million on Wednesday ? is the only person to have been charged as he was the only person Police could find sufficient evidence against.

He abused his position as Property Officer to authorise fraudulent payments to carpenter Steven Barbosa who submitted fictitious invoices for his work. Smith then creamed off the profits.

Speaking after the case, prosecutor Kulandra Ratneser said: ?We will never know what the extent of the fraud was. We are only at the tip of the iceberg. We don?t know how many other contractors acted in the same way as Steven Barbosa. People don?t usually come and tell you: ?I?ve given a kickback.?

There were widespread reports in the media when the BHC scandal first became public about overcharging by contractors.

Senator Burch, the Government?s Housing Minister, told : ?At the time of the allegations we should have had about ten people on trial. After an investigation by Scotland Yard we ended up with one.?

Asked if he was dissatisfied with the way the Police handled the matter, he said: ?I?m not disappointed there were not further charges. I?m not a Policeman, and they did the investigation. I wanted all the guilty to be charged.?

In May 2003, Sen. Burch had threatened to use Parliamentary privilege to name those he believed guilty of improper dealings with the BHC.

Speaking before the verdict in the fraud case, he said: ?From an ethical rather than criminal view there are some people who have been unethical. Those people should be named and shamed. I didn?t want to do that until the criminal investigation had been concluded. Whether I do that now, we will have to see at the conclusion of this case.?

Sen. Burch added that the BHC has put a number of contractors with question marks over their behaviour on a ?stop list.? He said ?The BHC has been turned around and is in better shape than it?s ever been. That?s not just my opinion but is reflected in the Auditor General?s recent report. The board that?s now in place have proper and documented procedures and the BHC is operating on a sound basis.?

Sen. Burch was said to be off Island yesterday, and could not be reached for comment in the light of Wednesday?s verdict.

However, Deputy Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley, who made the BHC scandal public in 2002, said there were many unanswered questions over what happened. He said that, in his view, people within the Government and BHC should be held accountable for the fact that the Smith fraud occurred.

?Too often Government blame other people. They don?t like the stick of accountability to tap on their door,? he added.