Aconveyancing solicitor who was ‘duped’ into paying £1.2 million to third parties in what turned out to be a fraud has failed to have himself admitted back onto the roll.
An anonymous man wearing a suit holds a tablet projecting a digital house
Source: iStock
Charles James Ete, partner and owner of Charles Ete & Co and the principal of Pride Solicitors - both London firms - had acted for two clients on a £450,000 property sale in 2018 and three further payments of nearly £790,000. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the transactions ‘bore hallmarks of fraud’.
Ete had failed to exercise any or adequate supervision or control over an individual using the name of Person A - a purported solicitor at Pride Solicitors who operated under a fraudulent practising certificate - and failed to take any or adequate steps to verify the identity and regulatory status of the individual, the SDT found.