Legal Services

A former human rights lawyer has pleaded guilty to fraud just a day before his trial was set to begin.

Phil Shiner pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Southwark Crown Court yesterday, just one day before his trial was set to begin.

High Court judgment reveals £2.75m alleged fraud committed by former employee in set’s credit control department.

Pump Court Chambers has been the victim of an alleged £2.75m fraud, according to recent High Court proceedings.

The scale of the fraud came to light following a reported judgment from Charles Morrison, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, following an earlier ex parte injunction and freezing orders made against a former employee, Gillian Goodfield, who worked in the set’s credit control department.

Worked with group of ‘corrupt legal professionals’

A barrister and part-time immigration tribunal judge has been handed a three-year jail sentence for his part in a £1.8 million legal aid fraud.

Rasib Ghaffar, 54, conspired with legal clerk Gazi Khan, solicitor advocate Azar Khan, and solicitor Joseph Kyeremeh to defraud the taxpayer through submitting false legal aid claims, according to a statement released by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Barrister is one of four legal professionals convicted over ramped-up defence costs.

Abarrister and part-time immigration tribunal judge has been jailed for defrauding the Legal Aid Agency with fake legal costs.

Rasib Ghaffar, aged 54, submitted inflated legal fees for work in 2011 and 2012 and was sentenced to three years imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court.

Seven people have been arrested by fraud investigators as part of a criminal investigation into collapsed law firm Axiom Ince and around £66 million of missing client money.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said over 80 of its investigators, accompanied by Metropolitan Police officers, conducted nine raids across the South East early on Tuesday morning to bring people in for questioning and search for possible evidence.

A solicitor has been struck off after stealing nearly £8,000 from a vulnerable client by using their debit card to make cash withdrawals on 39 occasions.

Danielle De Carpentier joined Nottingham firm Clayton Mott in 2014 before beginning the fraud on 1 August 2015.

A court has approved a £1.07m bankruptcy order against the former boss of disgraced Axiom Ince, over failure to make payments for the law firm he acquired last year.

Axiom Ince went into administration last year after it was revealed over £60m of client money went missing, leading the boss, Pragnesh Modhwadia, and others, to be suspended by the legal regulator.

Legal firms are being increasingly targeted by hackers according to the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland.

Members of the legal profession are being urged to stay vigilant and do all they can to protect themselves online following a recent uptick in cyberattacks.

Jude McCorry, CEO, Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, said: “We have seen an increase of reported cyberattacks in Scotland around the small-to-medium-sized legal profession, but also seen evidence of unreported attacks over the last few weeks.

Police Scotland is investigating potential fraud at a failed law firm.

McClure Solicitors, which was founded in Greenock in 1853, went into administration about three years ago. The work of the firm, which also operated in the north of England, was taken on by Jones Whyte.

Campaign group Victims of McClure Solicitors argues that the failed firm fraudulently managed a number of family protection trusts.

US law firm Dechert is set to pay more than £3m to a US aviation entrepreneur as settlement of a fraud and conspiracy lawsuit in London.

Farhad Azima had a long-running dispute with Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) dating back to 2016 as the sovereign wealth fund alleged Azima was liable for fraudulent misrepresentation and conspiracy.