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The Observer: "Peter Cameron-Webb, the star underwriter at Lloyd's of London whose name has become a byword for all that is wrong with the insurance market, is to be forced to testify in America.

Cameron-Webb, 76, was traced to Hollywood where he was served with a subpoena last week to give evidence in the fraud case being brought against Lloyd's by a California Name, David West.

He is due to give a videotaped deposition to lawyers on 9 September and has been ordered to hand over documents.

Cameron Webb, once regarded as a high-flying underwriter, is still wanted in Britain by the Serious Fraud Office. He was ordered to repay more than £5 million by the High Court in May 1989 for breach of fiduciary duty to investors. But he skipped the country with another wanted underwriter, Peter Dixon, and reached America via Spain. He can only be arrested if he returns to British jurisdiction.

A Department of Trade and Industry report in 1990 accused him of 'plundering' the insurance syndicates he managed. With 12 colleagues, Cameron-Webb was judged by the DTI to have absconded with about pounds 40m from syndicates under the PCW Underwriting Agencies' control.

Lloyd's was forced to set up a special reinsurance company, Lioncover, as a result of Cameron-Webb's poor underwriting which had led to hundreds of millions of pounds of losses.

He is reported to be living in 'a somewhat seedy neighborhood', which appears to support his claims that, even if Lloyd's caught up with him, he would be unable to repay the millions."

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