Businessman Andre Curtis appeared in Magistrates' Court yesterday to answer charges related to his company Harvest Investment Holdings.

Curtis, 44, of Whale View Lane, Warwick, was charged with operating an investment company without a licence between March 2007 and December 2008.

He was also charged with making a statement, promise or forecast which he knew to be false between August 2008 and December 2008.

The first alleged offence, under the Investment Business Act 2003, carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and/or prison sentence of up to five years.

The second, under the Criminal Code Act, carries a maximum $100,000 fine and/or jail of up to five years.

Curtis was Premier Ewart Brown's political campaign manager for his Warwick South Central branch in the last General Election but was last month replaced by new Progressive Labour Party Constituency 26 branch manager Yolanda Furbert.

He was not required to enter a plea yesterday as the case will be heard at Supreme Court. He was granted $50,000 bail to reappear in Magistrates' Court for mention on Tuesday, March 3.

The matter follows an investigation by authorities in Bermuda and is separate to an action by Montana State Auditor's Office, in which Curtis is accused of 24 violations and Harvest Investment Holdings — of which he is chairman — a further 23.

The Montana probe surrounds an allegation that investors were duped into handing over millions of dollars after being falsely promised huge returns.