given to shamed banker Calvin Shabazz.

Shabazz, convicted last month of stealing $121,000 from the Bank of Bermuda, was yesterday told to work 240 hours for the community -- the maximum possible.

But Crown Counsel Ms Sharon Kenny had asked Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground to jail him immediately.

The Supreme Court sentence came after conflict over Shabazz's contribution to society.

Ms Kenny said Shabazz, 44, had claimed: "I am considered the premier person in Bermuda for the uplifting of the black community and the peaceful coexistence of all Bermuda.

"No-one has the history I have in Bermuda towards this end.'' This appeared to be a "somewhat grandiose statement'', Ms Kenny said.

Shabazz also claimed to be the first chairperson of a hospice committee, donating more than $30,000, she said. But that money came from the loan at the centre of the case.

Shabazz, of Ord Road, Warwick, was lent $310,000 by the bank in 1988 to bring his debts under control. He was a senior bank official.

One of the reasons for the loan, his trial heard, was to pay off his mortgage of about $141,000. But more than two years later the bank discovered only $20,000 of it was paid on the mortgage.

Shabazz denied stealing but was convicted by a majority of jurors.

Lawyer Mr. Ian Kawaley asked that Shabazz be spared jail. Many respectable people had told him: "You're representing a very good man.'' He added: "This is really somebody who doesn't fit the sort of profile even of a white collar criminal.

"He is a very religious man and he prides himself on very strict moral conduct. He believes in self-reliance and hard work. He also believes in community service and the free enterprise system.'' Shabazz, of Ord Road, Warwick, was born Calvin Weekes. He has a masters degree in business administration and by the time he was asked to resign from the bank in 1991 was earning $63,000.

He has no other convictions, but faces trial next month on three counts of theft and five counts of false accounting, involving $43,500 from the Bank of Bermuda.

The court heard he is separated from his wife and has set up home with another woman. He has two daughters, at school in the US.

Mr. Kawaley said Ms June Ann Furbert and other sympathisers were trying to raise funds for Shabazz and recover money owed to him, in a bid to repay the amount allegedly stolen. About $9,700 had been recovered through civil proceedings.

The charge was laid partly as a result of "certain other matters'' being investigated earlier, he said.

Shabazz might not have ended up in court if he had had the sort of relationship he ought to have had with top bank officials, and had been forthright with them about his money difficulties.

But Shabazz was an "outsider'' at the bank, said Mr. Kawaley. He joined it from John W. Swan Ltd, and was not from Bermuda's "traditional business classes''. He also did not like to seek help.

This was not the type of situation where the person knew very well that what they were doing was criminal, he said.

"It's certainly the first case of its kind in Bermuda, if not elsewhere. Mr.

Shabazz is somewhat of a legal guinea pig.'' Mr. Justice Ground told Shabazz: "Being honest is not just a matter of avoiding what you believe to be criminal.'' Shabazz knew he should not have spent the money as his own without paying off the mortgage and while he had involved himself in community projects and given time for others, he had used bank money to make donations.

"In effect, you were buying status in the community with someone else's money,'' the judge said.

He acknowledged Shabazz was different from the "traditional embezzler'', and that the case was a novel one.

"I understand what an enormous blow this will be to a man of your character and standing in the community.'' He hoped Shabazz would begin to understand that what he had done was wrong, and how badly he had let himself and others down.

The community service order was "a chance to give something of your own back''.