clashed on the third day of evidence in the trial of former banker Arnold Todd.

The move came after Mr. Burgess told the court he arranged finance to buy a house from construction firm Delro chief Delmont Talbot -- but later found it had been sold to someone else.

Prosecution witness Mr. Burgess said he had assumed he owed nothing -- but found out later when he applied for a loan of $50,000 from Todd's former employer, the Bank of Bermuda, that the loan had not been paid off.

He said he later approached Todd, who said: "We turned your money over.'' Mr. Burgess told Supreme Court: "I said `I don't know what you're talking about.' "I think he said it would be cleared up within three months or six months.'' But he added it had not been dealt with as promised.

Mr. Burgess told Supreme Court that he had agreed to buy the house at Rosehill being worked on by Delro in October 1985, while he was employed as a truck driver with the firm.

Mr. Burgess told Crown counsel Michael Pert that Mr. Talbot had approached him with the offer of sale for between $275,000 and $285,000 after he lost his bartending job when Club Med in St. George's closed and he joined Delro.

But he said he did not have that amount of cash and that financing the deal had been discussed with Mr. Talbot.

Mr. Burgess said: "Delmont Talbot and I talked about it and he said he could arrange for me to see a loan officer.'' And he agreed with Mr. Pert that the loan officer in question was Bank of Bermuda executive Todd.

Mr. Burgess said he then visited Todd at the bank and said, as far as he could remember, he left after what seemed ten minutes with a loan approved.

He agreed with Mr. Pert that he was not asked for security. Mr. Pert asked if he had signed any blank forms.

Mr. Burgess said: "I guess I did -- it's been some time and don't remember. I guess I did.'' He said he had not agreed to borrow $125,000 from the Bank of Bermuda.

He also agreed that his employment details on a form signed by him when it was blank -- saying he was a hotel barman and part-time construction worker - was wrong.

Also, information on his income was wrong, he did not recognise the business telephone number listed and he added he would never have disclosed his wife's income, a figure for which was noted.

And he insisted he did not sign any Bank of Bermuda forms anywhere other than the bank.

He added that he had not seen any profit from the sale of the Rosehill house and that he not authorised the cash obtained for it to be used for anything else. And he said he had never made any payments on the bank loan.

But English QC John Perry, acting for Todd with Bermudian barrister Kim White, challenged Mr. Burgess' recollections.

He said one Bank of Bermuda form could not have been signed as a blank in 1985 because the form was marked as revised in 1987.

And Mr. Perry claimed that -- even after the events of 1985 -- Mr. Burgess had discussed other property deals with Mr. Talbot.

Mr. Burgess admitted that in 1990 he had been interested in a house owned by Gladwin Talbot and that he had arranged a deposit for a house in St. George's -- but denied that discussions on a house in Winton Hill had taken place except in the context of Todd saying he would get Mr. Talbot to sell it to clear off the loan he had obtained for the Rosehill property.

And he denied he had been to real estate firm LP Gutteridge in connection with a loan prior to visiting the Bank of Bermuda.

Mr. Perry suggested that the Bank of Bermuda form with the wrong details had been filled in by another employee of the bank and that Mr. Burgess had provided the information.

Mr. Burgess replied: "Absolutely wrong.'' Mr. Perry read from a pre-trial statement from Mr. Burgess in which he said that instalments were to be paid on the Rosehill house through an arrangment between Mr. Talbot and Todd.

But Mr. Burgess told the court: "I didn't make any arrangements with him how the payments would be paid.'' Todd 56, of Pearman's Hill, West Warwick, is accused of 17 counts of theft, fraud and false accounting, allegedly committed between 1985 and 1990.

Also in the dock are importer Varnel Curtis, 49, of St. Anne's Drive, Southampton, hotel security chief Milton Woods, 61, of Old Road, Southampton, and businessman Cecil Durham, 56, of Ramgoat Hill, Smith's Parish.

All three faces charges related to the count against Todd. All four men deny the charges. The trial continues.