A Canadian lawyer who defrauded Government of almost half a million dollars by pretending to have Bermudian roots has been barred from practising law on the Island.

Bermuda Bar Council ordered Robert William Martyn to be struck off the roll of lawyers after finding him guilty of improper conduct by breaching the Barristers' Code of Professional Conduct.

Mr. Martyn was convicted in Supreme Court in May 2005 of conspiring to fraudulently obtain Bermudian status for him and his father by submitting false birth and marriage certificates to the Department of Immigration.

He was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and lost an appeal against his conviction at the end of 2006.

The Bar Association, the governing body for the legal profession in Bermuda, has now published an announcement that its disciplinary tribunal had unanimously found him guilty of improper conduct on November 27 last year.

Bar Association president Rod Attride-Stirling said last night that the ban on him practising law was effective from that date.

The Royal Gazette attempted to contact Martyn at Westbury Limited, an investment company on the Island owned by Canadian billionaire Michael DeGroote. Executive assistant Reta Dennis said Mr. Martyn had no comment.

During his 2005 trial, the Supreme Court heard that Martyn defrauded the Government and avoided a variety of taxes and licensing fees as a result of obtaining status, totalling close to $500,000.

As a result of tricking Immigration into conferring status upon him, he was able to purchase a $1.9 million home on Harrington Sound which commands an annual rental value well below the minimum stipulated for non-Bermudians.

He also incorporated a trust company locally of which he, having obtained Bermudian status, could own 100 percent of the shares and only be subject to minimal fees and regulatory monitoring.

It was not clear whether Mr. Martyn faces deportation back to Canada or if he has been given permission to stay on the Island.

The Department of Immigration did not respond to questions and Saul Froomkin, the lawyer who represented Mr. Martyn in court, could not be reached.