UK lawyers implicated in money laundering, including any type of complaint, arrest or prosecution include the following

1. The case of Benjamin Cornelius[2011]– solicitor has been sentenced to four years and eight months in jail for fraud, money laundering and perverting the course of justice in March this year after fraudulently securing mortgage advances amounting to more than £650000 for a friend.
2. RCPO v C [2010] EWCA Crim 97– Lawyer and equity partner in a firm of solicitors was the firm’s nominated anti-money laundering officer at the time, when one of the firm’s clients had laundered fraudulently obtained money through the firm’s client account. The lawyer was cleared of six counts of money laundering after a judge ruled that ‘undue delay had created incurable prejudice in an examination of the respondent’s case’, so that the lawyer’s right to a fair trial has been compromised.
3. The case of Anthony Blok [2009] – solicitor convicted of money laundering offence under Section 327 POCA for accepting two bags containing £75,000 in £50 notes and paying them into court as bail security for his client. The solicitor was representing a client who was on charges for fraud in relation to an international money laundering ring.
4. Zambia v Meer Care & Desai [2008] EWCA Civ 1007 – Lawyer and his law firm successfully appealed against a decision of Justice Smith in the High Court, holding them vicariously liable for dishonest assistance in money laundering and associated activities. In upholding the appeal of a lawyer who had allowed millions of pounds from Zambian public money to be funnelled through his client account, the Court of Appeal said that the evidence suggested that there were questions as to the lawyer’s competence. The court, therefore, was forced to conclude that the lawyer did not really understand what was involved in money laundering and set the charges aside.
5. Pulvers (a firm) v Chan & Others [2007] EWHC 24006 (Ch)– This case highlights the liability of partners in firms where mortgage fraud has occurred, and their ability to claim against individual employees who have been actively involved in the fraud.
6. R v Griffiths [2006] All ER (D) 19 (Sep) – Lawyer convicted of failing to disclose suspicious real estate transaction where he should have known that the subject property was likely from the proceeds of crime because it was grossly undervalued