Paul Lemmon, the former managing director of a Bermuda-based company convicted in the US of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, has not yet started to serve his prison term.

Lemmon, who was head of the Voyager Group - the now wound-up company was located in a penthouse office at the East end of Front Street - was sentenced in February this year to 21 months in jail for his part in a securities fraud that was uncovered by an FBI investigation code-named 'Operation Bermuda Short'.

Although the undercover investigation did not actually result in actual loss to any investor, the combined attempted fraudulent securities sales exposed by the operation totalled more than $200 million and resulted in indictments against 58 individuals.

Lemmon was charged last year - along with two other directors of Bermuda companies, Mark Valentine, the former head of now bankrupt Toronto brokerage Thomson Kernaghan and director of a number of Bermuda based companies including VC Advantage (Bermuda) Fund Ltd. and the Hammock Group Ltd., and Andrew Proctor, also a director of the Voyager Group of Companies - with several counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud.

At his sentencing in February, Lemmon was ordered to "surrender for service of sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons on August 15", court documents showed.

However, Lemmon will now not be put behind bars until early next year with Roger Stefin, prosecutor with the US District Court of Southern Florida, telling The Royal Gazette on Friday that Lemmon's surrender date had been extended to April 7, 2004.

Mr. Stefin said: "Mr. Lemmon has pled guilty, he has been convicted but a motion to continue surrender was heard and surrender to a designated prison is now set for April 7."

It is not known if the decision to give Lemmon an extension on his surrender date was influenced by the plea agreement he has made with the court, with court records showing that he is set to appear as a witness for the prosecution in the case against former business partner Mr. Valentine: "As part of the defendant's plea, the defendant is cooperating with the US attorney's office in the investigation of this case and other matters.

"It is anticipated that the defendant will testify in the trial of co-defendant, Mark Valentine, presently scheduled for March 24, 2003."

Lemmon, a Canadian, came to Bermuda when he joined Bank of Butterfield subsidiary Butterfield Corporate Services in March, 1993. Mr. Lemmon reportedly left Butterfield in April, 1996 but remained in Bermuda with the opening of the Voyager companies.

Although the Island was home to Lemmon and his family until last year, court documents show that he is now residing in his home province of New Brunswick.

Mr. Lemmon was contacted last week for comment but declined to speak to the case in an e-mail message: "I can not offer any comments at this time, but why write this. This is so unfair to continue to target my family like this.

Please have respect for us and leave us alone. We contributed much when we were in Bermuda and don't deserve to be continually tarnished and harassed like this. I would think you could channel your energy to something more news worthy and of interest," he wrote.