Three of Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) fraudster Terrence Smith's creditors are set to recoup money lost through his criminal misdeeds following a Supreme Court decision yesterday.

More than $62,000 is to be meted out to firms that completed work on the con man's lavish Tee Street mansion, but were never paid as a result of Smith's assets being frozen.

At the same hearing, Puisne Justice Charles-Etta Simmons ruled that Smith benefited from $179,495 of fraudulently-obtained funds a figure agreed upon by both Crown counsel Robert Welling and defence lawyer Llewellyn Peniston after taking into account cheques received by Smith and testimony given by carpenter and key witness Steven Barbosa.

Smith was found guilty in March 2006 of siphoning off more than $1.2 million in taxpayers' money from the BHC, which provides housing for the needy. He was said to have spent the funds he obtained from his fraudulent actions on his own Tee Street, Devonshire mansion, which included a six-seat movie theatre, an extravagant pool and a marble master bathroom.

However, his conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal the following year, with a retrial ordered.

Smith entered guilty pleas to the two largest charges amounting to $210,360 $179,495 of which was yesterday deemed the beneficial figure.

Mrs. Justice Simmons yesterday ordered that a total of $17,319 be paid to Anderlin Industries, a security company that installed a complex alarm system at Smith's former home.

Sousa Landscaping was granted $12,000 in debt outstanding from an initial $280,000 sum, owed for design projects at the Devonshire mansion. However, a dispute over what Mr. Peniston called creditors' "obscene legal costs" means over $86,000 of the con man's confiscated assets have been placed in reserve, pending resolution at a later date.

Mr. Peniston called the day's proceedings a "cynical exercise" on behalf of the prosecution, and has already filed an appeal.

Part of the day's proceedings focused on money owed to Mr. Barbosa, the carpenter complicit in Smith's fraud.

As Property Officer at the BHC quango, Smith authorised fraudulent payments to Mr. Barbosa, who submitted fictitious bills for his work.

Mr. Barbosa was granted immunity from prosecution and testified as the key witness against Smith in the 2007 trial.

Yesterday, Mrs. Justice Simmons ordered that $33,766 be paid to the carpenter, who was absent from the proceeds of crime hearing but was represented by his lawyer Michael Smith.

However, Mrs. Justice Simmons decided that $14,304 of Mr. Barbosa's legal fees should be held in reserve after Mr. Peniston claimed he and his client had never seen the bills in question.

Smith's former defence lawyer Larry Scott claimed $72,406 in unpaid legal fees and interest, which have been put in reserve pending a Supreme Court hearing on 27 and 28 May.

Mr. Welling said that while he invited representatives from the BHC to join as third parties, they declined. Also hanging in the balance is $116,000 in legal fees owed to Mr. Peniston's law firm Peniston and Associates for work on Smith's behalf.

Because all judgments for third parties are paid out of the same pot, Mr. Peniston could find himself out of pocket by about $19,000 should both Mr. Scott and Mr. Barbosa recoup all their costs.

However, Mr. Welling told the court that Mr. Peniston had "deliberately omitted to give any indication as to what was available as part of matrimonial funds" possibly held by Smith's wife Veronica, prompting Mrs. Justice Simmons to infer that undisclosed assets exist.

Mr. Peniston refused to raise the issue of Smith's wife, said by him at previous hearings to be seriously ill, but did tell the court that his client had no money to speak of. "They froze his account and they threw him in jail," he said.

Mr. Peniston told The Royal Gazette yesterday afternoon that he intends to "dispute the obscene sum given to Mr. Barbosa", adding: "They [Mr. Barbosa and Mr. Scott] won't get full cost."

"I'll get leave in the Court of Appeal," he said, adding that a date had not yet been set.