murder trial in which a mother and her son are accused of killing a widow to get her multi-million dollar New York townhouse.

A former employee of the company testified that one of the accused, Kenneth Kimes, opened an account on the Island under a false name.

Lines Overseas Management (LOM) confirmed yesterday that the company had been helping the US authorities in connection with the case but stressed neither the company nor its employees had acted improperly.

LOM Marketing and Client Services Manager Nancy Wainwright told The Royal Gazette : "LOM has been assisting the US authorities since July 1998, in this matter as it relates to an account that was opened in May of 1998.

"We cannot comment further except to say there has been no impropriety by LOM nor its employees.'' In a tale which has gripped America, Kimes and his mother Sante Kimes have been charged with second degree murder and kidnapping.

Prosecutors in Manhattan, New York, believe they conspired to rob and perhaps kill former ballerina Irene Silverman, who is missing and presumed dead.

Ms Silverman's body was never recovered, but prosecutors assert that the mother and son smothered her, stashed her into a stolen Lincoln Towncar, and dumped her at an unknown location.

According to Court Television, the prosecutors at Manhattan Supreme Court called an employee of a Bermuda-based brokerage firm last Thursday.

The employee testified that Kenneth Kimes opened an account and made deposits.

During cross-examination, Kimes' attorney Mel Sachs enabled the witness to provide more details on the false account.

The Court TV report said that when Assistant District Attorney Owen Heimer indicated he was prepared to show the deposits were the proceeds of a crime, Sante Kimes' attorney Michael Hardy began to protest.

Prosecutors in the seven-week trial have been putting together various pieces of what they believe was an elaborate murder-robbery plot.

Jurors have heard testimony that Sante Kimes used a fake Social Security card when she allegedly forged Ms Silverman's name on a deed she tried to get notarised.

That deed approved the transfer of Ms Silverman's Manhattan townhouse for a fraction of its value to a shell Florida firm set up by her and her son.

The fake Social Security card was among the items found on the them when they were arrested July 5, 1998 -- the day Ms Silverman's disappearance was first reported.

They were arrested on a warrant from Utah, where they were accused of using a bad cheque for $14,900 to buy a Lincoln Towncar.

At the time of the arrest, investigators also found Ms Silverman's keys on Kenneth Kimes, cassettes of Silverman's telephone conversations -- apparently taken from wiretaps, the forged deed, loaded .nine-millimetre and .22-calibre pistols, several wigs and masks, plastic handcuffs, $30,000 in cash, an empty stun gun box and a pink liquid substance similar to a known date rape drug.

BUSINESS BUC