The founder of a women's development group pleaded guilty in court yesterday to three counts of fraud dating back to 1997.

And portions of a letter the defendant wrote to a Saudi Arabian prince asking for a large sum of money were read to the court.

But Valirie Marcia Akinstall, 43, of Point Finger Road, Paget, blamed her predicament on former Premier Pamela Gordon, the Bank of N.T. Butterfield and the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation.

And she vowed to file a formal complaint with the Human Rights Commission over her treatment by those parties.

Despite her guilty plea on the three charges of gaining credit by false pretences, even after she was convicted yesterday Akinstall maintained her innocence.

Akinstall was dogged by controversy in 1997 when Police investigated her business dealings in bringing the widow of Martin Luther King, Coretta Scott King, to Bermuda but allegedly failing to foot the $20,000 bill.

A mystery benefactor eventually stepped in to pay the debt in order to spare Bermuda the embarrassment, it was reported at the time.

Magistrate Archibald Warner yesterday fined Akinstall $700 and ordered her to pay $331.11 compensation to the Rosemont Guesthouse, Pembroke and Tio Pepe's restaurant, Southampton.

The court heard that Akinstall had stayed at the Rosemont for six days at a cost of $766.87 and eaten at the restaurant in July and August of 1997, then paid with Bank of N. T. Butterfield cheques which later bounced.

Police arrested her at another guest house several weeks later.

She told Police she was waiting on a "research grant'' from a Saudi Arabian prince which she had expected to be already in her account.

In court yesterday Akinstall said the prince had agreed to grant her the sum -- believed to be in the thousands -- but had unexpectedly "reversed'' his decision leaving her with the bills racked up but no way to pay.

She also told the court she had no previous convictions but Crown Counsel Leighton Rochester pointed out that was not true as she had been found guilty of obstructing Police in recent years.

Akinstall -- who represented herself -- said she resented information the bank had disclosed to other parties.

"It is very disquieting when a credit file within a bank can be accessed by an individual in the political arena and that individual can use that information to undermine and financially short-circuit small business.'' She said former Premier Pamela Gordon got information from the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation and the bank which allowed Ms Gordon to "deliberately and maliciously undermine'' Akinstall for "political ends''.

And she said the Police investigation into her involvement regarding the non-payment of Coretta Scott King's bill had caused the charges she faced yesterday.

Mr. Warner told Akinstall her offences were extremely serious and she should accept responsibility for them rather than blaming others.