Bermuda: Premier’s former campaign manager on trial

The former campaign manager of the ex-premier of Bermuda is now on trial for allegedly pocketing funds from a government initiative and from a building contract.



Forty-nine-year-old Andre Curtis, who ran Ewart Brown's 2007 general election campaign, is accused of fabricating a document explaining how he spent funds from his US$400,000 deal with the government’s Faith-Based Tourism initiative.



Curtis, who denies all charges, is said to have stolen $130,681 from the government between April 2007 and April 2008.



According to prosecutor Kirsty-Ann Kiellor, the Department of Tourism had outsourced the project aimed at attracting tourists to the island to Curtis’s company, Harvest Investment Holdings Limited.



However, Kiellor said Curtis diverted funds paid by the government into his company on a regular basis.