Solicitor’s judgement clouded by longstanding client

Mrs A had practised as a sole practitioner for fifteen years. Mr Z, a longstanding client, asked her for help in selling his house.

Mr Z had arranged to sell the house at half of its value. Mrs A found this odd, but he explained he was in financial difficulties and could no longer keep up with mortgage payments.

Prior to this, Mrs A had only acted for him in commercial matters. The police had contacted her a year ago to advise that they  suspected Mr Z of being involved in trading illicit drugs. They served Mrs A with a Production Order, requiring her to report certain information if Mr Z instructed her on any property transactions.

However, Mrs A was trusting and naive. She believed her client was genuinely in financial difficulties. She sympathised with his situation and wanted to help, so she proceeded with the sale without alerting the police.

It later emerged that Mr Z had indeed been involved in selling drugs and was subsequently convicted. He had sold the house in a hurry as he was facing confiscation proceedings.

Mrs A was convicted for failing to disclose that she had reasonable grounds to suspect her client was engaged in money laundering. She had allowed her trust in her client to prevent her from carrying out due diligence on an unusual transaction.

When she appeared before the SDT, the judge acknowledged Mrs A’s unblemished regulatory history and the fact that she had not made any personal gain. However, her offence was of a serious nature so she was struck off and ordered to pay costs.