Roger Russell, a recently adopted candidate of the United Bermuda Party (UBP), is the alleged protagonist behind an alleged politically motivated plot to compromise the Berkeley School construction project, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Meanwhile a formal complaint on the allegations will be forwarded to the Police through the Attorney General's office as early as today, said Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott who refused to confirm the identity of the candidate.

"I have had the opportunity to let the Police Commissioner know the file is coming" the Minister said.

"He's aware of the details but he needs to be formally approached on behalf of the couple - so that the investigation can begin. That will be in his hands

Multiple sources close to the unfolding saga confirmed that Mr. Russell was the "approved candidate" Mr. Scott was referring to in his Ministerial statement to the House of Assembly on Friday.

Mr. Scott said then that an "approved candidate" of the UBP made efforts to induce an officer in his department to hand over documents relating to the Berkeley project, saying that there was going to be a Police raid in connection with the project and that he, the officer, was going to be the fall guy. The candidate also approached the officer's wife, said Mr. Scott, and promises were made that the officer would be "taken care" of by some powerful people if he handed over the documents.

The Minister said he was seeking legal advice as to whether a criminal act may have occurred and this week he confirmed that the Solicitor General was of the opinion that an investigation was warranted.

He said he did not want to prejudice the case but a letter would be sent to Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons this week "to inform him of the details if he wants to know. Then it would for the Opposition Leader to make his name public if he chooses"

He said that Government was assuming the burden of filing the complaint on behalf of the officer because he would not have been "singled out" if he was not a Government employee.

"It just means they would not be burdened with paying for a lawyer and they would not have the administrative burden of the file. But they will be the ones to provide the Police with testimony"

Mr. Russell, the chief financial officer of contractor Precision Construction Company Ltd., began his political career with the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) and even worked on now Transport Minister Ewart Brown's campaign during the 1998 general election. In February, the UBP announced that he had joined the party and he was an approved candidate for the next general election.

Calls to Precision Construction Company Ltd were not answered yesterday afternoon.

The Opposition has fired off some allegations of their own - that the Berkeley project is in trouble and that the Auditor General should conduct an inquiry into the project. The UBP has also said that Mr. Scott has made unsubstantiated allegations in the past and suggested that Friday's statement was timed to deflect attention away from an ongoing probe into the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

Meanwhile Arthur Ebbin, president of Pro-Active Management Services which won the contract to build the school, said that the Berkeley project was pretty much on course.

He agreed with a suggestion put to him that the Berkeley project had become a political football.

"Of course that's the case... It's unfortunate that such an important project like this, which means a lot to the future of our schoolchildren and Bermuda is being treated with such disrespect" Mr. Ebbin said.

"Everything that has been alleged about the Berkeley project is the fabrication of someone's imagination"

When asked, he said the project was going "pretty well" all things considered. "It's a 27-month project. You have your obstacles, but it's going pretty well. It's a massive project - you can be a little ahead or a little behind but overall it's going quite well."

Meanwhile, Police say that there is no investigation into the Berkeley project. Asked whether there had been plans for a Police raid in respect of the project and whether a formal complaint had been filed with respect to the matters, the Service issued this statement: "The Bermuda Police Service has not received a formal complaint into the allegations reported in Monday's and Tuesday's editions of The Royal Gazette in connection with the Berkeley Senior School Construction Project."

Asked to clarify the statement, Police spokesman Dwayne Caines said that Police procedure is such that action is only taken when there is a formal complaint and that no complaint had been filed with respect to Berkeley.

"Alex Scott was the one who raised the issue in the House behind the protection of parliamentary privilege. He is the one to take the next step," said UBP leader Grant Gibbons when contacted for comment.

"It is not the responsibility of the United Bermuda Party to identify the individuals who are allegedly behind the events that Alex Scott has described."And he said he refused to participate in a story that had the potential to slander or defame anyone.

Asked whether the UBP was looking seriously into the allegations, he said:"Certainly we are trying to get a clear picture of the events Alex Scott has described. I don't think it's necessary to prove or disprove anything Alex Scott has described."