Dilton Robinson, who failed in a bid to sue the Bank of Bermuda in 2002, yesterday launched a Supreme Court action aimed at recovering money he lost when a condominium development went wrong in the 1990s.

Yesterday, Mr. Robinson claimed Andre Heyliger defaulted on a $40,000 loan for the development of a property, Random View, for which Mr. Robinson had acted as guarantor.

Mr. Robinson said he pledged shares in the Bermuda Commercial Bank to support the guarantee. Ultimately Mr. Heyliger defaulted on the loan, which was supposed to be used to develop four condominiums, and Mr. Robinson?s shares were sold. Mr. Robinson estimated the shares would now be worth upwards of $60,000 and said he had yet to be repaid.

However, Mr. Heyliger said the two had a business deal where the amount of money each put into the project would be paid back when it was finished and the profits would then be split once the units were sold. Instead the property went into foreclosure.

Mr. Robinson said he had a verbal agreement with Mr. Heyliger. He did not see the need to have a formal written document because they were friends and it was ?fairly common in those days for blacks folk to operate on trust?.

?We had a discussion about any losses at the beginning and I specifically referred to him reimbursing me of any stocks and cash dividends lost,? he said. ?I considered that costs were implied. He said no problem.?

He added that he was constantly chasing Mr. Heyliger for his money once he defaulted on the loan and said Mr. Heyliger always said he was unable to pay him at the time. He said Mr. Heyliger made one ?payment?, of $500, in December 2002. Mr. Heyliger denied he made a payment on a debt to Mr. Robinson and said he felt sorry for him.

?In the later years, when he wasn?t working steadily, he seemed to be inclined to think I owed him something and I would say ?OK?,? Mr. Heyliger said. I mean it (the development) had been dead for five years.

?When I saw him on Reid Street (in 2002) he mentioned that his kids were in school and was saying he didn?t know if they would be able to go back. And he asked: Can you help me out.? ?

Mr. Robinson denied that he asked the man for help. Mr. Heyliger said he felt sorry for his friend and went home to get some money. He returned to the bus stop and handed over an envelope, without explaining what it was, and wished Mr. Robinson a happy holiday and said he hoped it would help. He said there was no mention of the money being acknowledgement of a debt.

The December, 2002 ?payment? is important because it meant that the statute of limitations, six years, was reopened and Mr. Robinson could take out a writ concerning a matter that happened years earlier. Mr. Robinson sued in March, 2003.

Yesterday, Mr. Robinson denied that his dealings with the Bank of Bermuda in 2002 educated him about statutes of limitations. Four years ago Mr. Robinson sued the Bank for breach of trust and confidentiality in relation to a $1.7 million loan he took in the early 1990s.

During the trial he stated that the Bank gave personal financial information to the Police and his employer, which resulted in him being fired. The suit was thrown out in 2002 after the Court of Appeals ruled the statute of limitations had expired.