Liverpool Conveyancing Solicitor Jailed For Fraud
You know that old saying relating to buses; you wait ages for one, then two come at once? Well, for those who believe that solicitors who abuse their power should face tough charges, this phrase could not be more true! In totally unrelated events, two solicitors have recently been jailed for illegal behaviour, causing a wave of appreciation among those members of the general public that believe that lawyers can get away with anything.
One lawyer, a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor was charged with allowing criminal criminal property to pass through his client's account, while the other lawyer, who hails from Northern Ireland was charged with failing to report suspicions of money laundering.
The fact that they were both caught and jailed at similar times was a total coincidence, yet picked up by the press and their cases splashed across the pages of the tabloid's.
The Liverpool conveyancing solicitor's case was an unfortunate one, with the real criminal being his client who was laundering money through his account.
The solicitor, who has now been struck off the legal register and is facing a jail term, had been aware of large sums of money passing through his client's bank account, even allowing £66,500 to go through the books one week without reporting it to any authority figure.
Now, client confidentiality can be a tricky subject, as no solicitor wants a reputation for telling the authorities about even the slightest suspicious behaviour; however, there is a limit to how far this confidentiality can and should go, and in this case, the solicitor must have been aware that something illegal was taking place.
The other solicitor was also involved in conveyancing work, operating out of Shrewsbury, and had failed to alert the authorities when a house sale that the was involved with went for a third of the asking price; it turned out that the property was owned by drug traffickers and they were making a quick sale in order not to lose it as an asset, pending an upcoming trial.
Both solicitors showed either great naivety, or professional negligence, neither of which cannot be tolerated by the law when it comes to such cases; they have both paid a heavy price for their mistakes.
If you have a query concerning the conveyancing process and would like some legal advice from a professional lawyer (who is still on the legal register!), then contact a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor today.
One lawyer, a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor was charged with allowing criminal criminal property to pass through his client's account, while the other lawyer, who hails from Northern Ireland was charged with failing to report suspicions of money laundering.
The fact that they were both caught and jailed at similar times was a total coincidence, yet picked up by the press and their cases splashed across the pages of the tabloid's.
The Liverpool conveyancing solicitor's case was an unfortunate one, with the real criminal being his client who was laundering money through his account.
The solicitor, who has now been struck off the legal register and is facing a jail term, had been aware of large sums of money passing through his client's bank account, even allowing £66,500 to go through the books one week without reporting it to any authority figure.
Now, client confidentiality can be a tricky subject, as no solicitor wants a reputation for telling the authorities about even the slightest suspicious behaviour; however, there is a limit to how far this confidentiality can and should go, and in this case, the solicitor must have been aware that something illegal was taking place.
The other solicitor was also involved in conveyancing work, operating out of Shrewsbury, and had failed to alert the authorities when a house sale that the was involved with went for a third of the asking price; it turned out that the property was owned by drug traffickers and they were making a quick sale in order not to lose it as an asset, pending an upcoming trial.
Both solicitors showed either great naivety, or professional negligence, neither of which cannot be tolerated by the law when it comes to such cases; they have both paid a heavy price for their mistakes.
If you have a query concerning the conveyancing process and would like some legal advice from a professional lawyer (who is still on the legal register!), then contact a Liverpool conveyancing solicitor today.