A Canadian lawyer who defrauded the Government by pretending to have Bermudian roots is reported to be opposing attempts to disbar him in Ontario.The Law Society of Upper Canada wants to revoke Robert Martyn's practising licence in the province, according to the Canadian publication Law Times.Martyn was convicted in Bermuda's 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.A Law Times report on June 20 said the attorney, who was barred from practising law here in 2007, is now working in Nassau, Bahamas.It said another Canadian lawyer who worked in Bermuda, Marlin Horst, brought the fraud case to the attention of the Law Society of Upper Canada when Martyn, 49, was standing trial.The Law Times said the society wanted to rely on the conviction and a summary of the facts of the case laid out by Bermuda's Court of Appeal in its bid to revoke his licence to practise in Ontario.But it quoted Martyn's lawyer Ferhan Javed as telling a hearing that a reliance on the conviction “would amount to a denial of natural justice” and that his client should be allowed to relitigate his case.The law society's panel reserved its decision on whether to apply the Bermuda conviction or allow Martyn to rebut the fraud allegations, according to the Law Times.During his 2005 trial, Bermuda's Supreme Court heard that Martyn defrauded the Government and avoided a variety of taxes and licensing fees as a result of obtaining status.As a result of tricking the Department of Immigration into conferring status upon him, he was able to purchase a $1.9 million home on Harrington Sound, which commanded an annual rental value well below the minimum stipulated for non-Bermudians.Useful websites: www.lawtimesnews.com, www.lsuc.on.ca.