Police are investigating a complaint that the founder of Segway Tours Bermuda stole money from the company.

But Robert Territo strenuously denies the claim and insists he does not understand why his former partner Ben Fairn kicked him out of the firm and reported him to Police.

The father-of-two started the tourist business — hiring out electric two-wheel personal transporters — after moving here from Manhattan with his family in 2004.

In 2007, Police Chief Inspector Anthony Mouchette obtained shares in the company and Mr. Fairn invested money the following year, becoming the majority shareholder. He fired Mr. Territo last December for collecting cash from customers on three occasions and not depositing it in the company's bank account.

The letter of termination also claimed Mr. Territo owed the business almost $20,000 in personal loans and demanded that he repay the amount.

Mr. Fairn told The Royal Gazette: "The Territos have left the Island and the BPS (Bermuda Police Service) has a watch out for him at airport arrivals, so I don't think he will be coming back.

"As of [our] December 2009 board meeting, he is no longer a director or involved in operations and owes the company a substantial amount of money."

A Police spokesman said: "The Bermuda Police Service can confirm that Mr. Fairn has made a complaint of theft in relation to the running of the Segway business in 2009.

"That case is still active and as such, it would be inappropriate to provide any information regarding any suspects."

Mr. Territo's wife Myra told this newspaper her husband did collect the money from customers and used it to cover operating expenses he had already paid out for Segway Tours.

"We personally paid for all daily operating expenses from 2007 to 2009 as Robert did not have access to any money to run the business," she alleged.

She said he built up the company over five years and ploughed the family's life savings into it so would hardly jeopardise it to steal "a few hundred dollars".

"No evidence was ever provided by Ben regarding theft," she said. "Ben has alleged that Robert owes the company $19,389.42 in personal loans.

"To this date, we have never received a detailed account of this loan and how this amount was determined."

She added: "As is very frequently the case with partnerships, we have reached a point where two sides have very different views as to what occurred. If we had the funds, we would have fought this in court but it was not an option."

Mrs. Territo said her husband's sacking from the company he started was "devastating", adding: "He had no other option than to walk away. It took all of our savings and it took away our planned future.

"To this day, we do not know what happened, as his partner refused to give us the answers."

Mr. Fairn said last night that Mr. Territo failed to tell him about a New York Supreme Court judgement against him and his wife for almost half a million dollars until after he had invested more than $200,000 in Segway Tours Bermuda.

A former business partner of the Territos — who opened a bar with the couple in New York — won the civil claim against them for breach of contract and fraud, as revealed by this newspaper in April 2009.

Mr. Fairn, who runs Aardvark Communications, said Mr. Territo still owned almost 20 percent of the shares in Segway and that Mr. Mouchette held almost 30 percent.

"It is unfortunate that this situation has continued," he said. "Mr Territo was terminated from the company with just cause in 2009.

"Since Mr. Territo is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the Bermuda Police Service, it would be inappropriate to comment any further."