hearing before Puisne Judge Mr. Justice Ground over how Televest and other related companies, including Telecheck Holdings, were put into liquidation.

Amid allegations of a conspiracy, lawyer for the firm's directors Mr. Julian Hall painted a picture of a company whose principals were caught off guard when told by officials that their business was believed to be insolvent.

Arguing that his clients, Thomas and Richard Burns and Chris Donnachie felt that they were hoodwinked by provisional liquidators Mr. Charles Kempe Jr. and Mr. Gil Tucker into believing that there was no option but to put the companies into liquidation, Mr. Hall said the firm was now applying to the court to have the order that caused the appointment of the liquidators, rescinded.

The court is also being asked to see that the liquidators are not paid. The move came as Mr. Hall, who spent almost the entire day addressing the court, stated that the petitions to wind up the companies were based on the misinterpretation of a company accountant's notes that the accountant himself has now said were misunderstood.

The Burns brothers say they were not advised of the winding up of overseas firms, Sarnia Mutual investments and Dominion International Properties, that eventually led to the downfall of the local companies.

And their lawyer insisted that there was never any real case for winding up the local companies.

He called for better scrutiny by the Supreme Court of petitions for winding up companies, especially, he said, as they relate to the appointment of provisional liquidators.

"This was not an appropriate case for the appointment of provisional liquidators,'' said Mr. Hall.

"We don't know if the damage to Televest and Telecheck is recoverable. The action taken to close it down has injured the possibility of recovery. People are not rushing to pay their Signature card bills because they've heard the publicity, and they know they can't use the Signature cards anymore. It's only human nature.'' Mr. Hall blamed the development on a conspiracy against the group of companies. This led to the intervention of lawyer Mr. Alan Dunch, representing Mr. Kempe and Mr. Tucker.

Mr. Dunch complained about Mr. Hall's veiled accusations, calling them improper.

"It's the kind of inflammatory statements that he knows attracts the attention of the press,'' said Mr. Dunch. "He has not presented any evidence to substantiate his claim of a conspiracy.'' But Mr. Hall pressed forward his view that there was a pre-determined plan to shut down Televest and Telecheck and take them out of business, even though he later, at the urgings of Mr. Justice Ground, withdrew the word "conspiracy''.

He insisted, however, that the two major companies were active and functioning normally before the moves by the liquidators that he claimed brought into disrepute the integrity of the company's directors.

Mr. Hall also attacked a report of a Finance Ministry company inspector, saying that the inspector had failed to discuss the matter with any of the directors of the company and failed to verify the information he obtained.

"The report is not worth the paper it is written on. It is based on nothing,'' he said.

On the issue of legal representation, Mr. Hall complained that the law firm, Appleby, Spurling and Kempe had been representing the overseas firms and the provisional liquidators. He termed it "'wholly inappropriate'' and added: "The rules of conduct would say this is a conflict of interest.'' Mr. Dunch replied: "It is simply rubbish to make these allegations in this forum. We (Appleby, Spurling and Kempe) don't consider it to be a conflict of interest.'' Mr. Dunch concluded that Mr. Hall's comment was "just another red herring calculated to prejudice the courts and the public''.

And he was back on his feet a moment later when Mr. Hall offered his view that liquidators were given "far too wide powers'' and that petitioning creditors and provisional liquidators should be separately represented -- never by the same lawyer.

"They (provisional liquidators) have been doing more than preserving the status quo (of the group of companies) as the order calls for. They've been making public statements about the company's indebtedness and encouraging investors to make a run on the company.'' Mr. Dunch argued: "He's making unsubstantiated claims again. He's back to a conspiracy theory.'' Mr. Hall will continue this morning in his effort to convince Mr. Justice Ground "that the Televest group of directors should not have been put into liquidation because there was little indebtedness, and they were ambushed while trying to help Mr. Dunch, his law firm and the provisional liquidators understand the true financial health of the companies.''