to pay the money back.

And despite legal letters to the contrary Mr. Arnold Brown, of Chaingate Hill, Devonshire, said yesterday he never paid any money off the huge debt owed to the family of his wife, Mrs. Anita Brown.

But Mr. Brown came under heavy questioning from lawyer for the family, Mr.

Kieron Unwin during the final day of the three day Supreme Court trial.

The debt arose when Mrs. Brown was arrested for stealing upwards of $250,000 from her former employers, the Bermuda Drug Company, between 1983-89.

The couple claim action by the company led to their assets and property being frozen, meaning there was no way they could pay off the money.

During a meeting with Mrs. Brown's mother, Mrs. Marion Smith, and brothers, Alan, Sinclair and Larry it was decided that the family home in Dutton Avenue, Pembroke be mortgaged to give her $400,000 to pay off the debt, in an attempt to keep her out of prison.

Over the past five years, Mr. Brown and his wife have claimed that there was never any agreement to pay back the mortgage, although he was able to secure the $400,000 from his employers, the Hotel Pension Fund, with the Smith family home as security.

But the Smith brothers say Mr. Brown said he would pay the mortgage off either in instalments or through the sale of his own assets when they were freed.

Yesterday, Mr. Brown said: "At the initial meeting the repayment of the money was discussed but Alan Smith strongly said that the priority is to get funds to keep Anita out of prison. He said that the repayment was secondary and would be discussed afterwards.'' Mr. Unwin claimed to find a number of discrepancies in Mr. Brown's story during cross-examination.

But Mr. Brown did admit that he had an equity of at least $600,000 which he offered, unsuccessfully, as security to financial institutions as he tried to borrow the money to pay his wife's debts. He said BDC and their lawyers Smith Barnard and Diel were "hostile'' and not prepared to lift the injunction.

He denied that a relatively good lifestyle had been bolstered by the money his wife had stolen from BDC.

Claiming he was simply a financial advisor to the family concerning the matter, he said there was no truth in an allegation by Mr. Alan Smith that he had agreed to repay the money in three to six months.

The Hotel Pension Fund has now asked for the return of the $400,000 plus some $114,000 in arrears, of which little has been paid.

Mr. Brown's lawyer Mr. Edward King said during closing arguments that the deal had been a family arrangement and there was no contract involved.

Mr. Unwin said Mr. Brown's attempts to distance himself from his wife's family, were: "To try and create a completely false picture that he played no part in that decision-making process as the whether the deeds were to be used to raise the $400,000.''