A B.C. man who earned a solid six-figure income teaching would-be tax dodgers a bogus scheme to evade the Canada Revenue Agency has been found guilty of tax evasion and counselling to commit fraud.

Russell Anthony Porisky of Chilliwack is an advocate of the legally flawed "natural person" theory, which suggests that anyone can get out of paying taxes by declaring themselves a "natural person" rather than a taxpayer. In order to spread the word, he and his partner Elaine Gould ran a company called Paradigm Education Group, which offered seminars, consulting services and other products teaching clients how to apply the theory.

"In a sense, income tax is the shackle that holds the chains of slavery together," Porisky's book The Canadian Illusion reads.

"When we each learn to release the shackle of income tax, as we each are our own key, we can and will, rediscover our true potential and the freedom that is part of it."

Porisky insisted that the Canadian tax system was in essence a "foreign parasite" -- that is, a scheme designed by wealthy international bankers.

The Paradigm philosophy insists that taxes violate the word of God as outlined in the Bible, and that money earned by a "natural person, working in his own capacity, under a private contract, for his own benefit" cannot be taxed.

That argument has been tested over and over again in B.C. courts but has never been successful. In fact, several former Paradigm students have been convicted for tax evasion after following Porisky's advice.

Porisky wasn't any luckier than his disciples, and was convicted Wednesday of tax evasion, GST evasion and counselling to commit a crime.

"The law has long recognized the distinction between a natural person and an artificial person, such as a corporation.... However, Mr. Porisky twists that into something that the law does not recognize," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers wrote in his decision.

The judge also found Porisky's partner Gould guilty on one count of tax evasion for failing to pay $112,611 between 2004 and 2008. She was not charged in connection with the shoddy advice offered by Paradigm.

Myers wrote that the couples' crimes are a "at best, a mistake of law," but he stressed that the mistake was a big one.

"Mr. Porisky's analysis picks and chooses snippets from various statutes and cases, and attempts to create logical links where none exist. It is, in effect, legal numerology," the judge wrote.

Porisky earned $555,782 in the four years ending in 2008, all of it from administering Paradigm courses.

In general, Paradigm "educators" employed by Porisky charged seven per cent of a student's income for two years, effectively creating their own tax-like system and funnelling a portion of the income back to their boss. He also profited from online sales of books and brochures he had written and DVDs he starred in, as well as one-time seminar fees.

Porisky and Gould have yet to be sentenced, but Paradigm is no longer in operation.