The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged five men, including two solicitors following the collapse of the law firm Axiom Ince.
Axion Ince went into administration last year after an alleged improper use of over £60m of client money, which sent shock waves throughout the legal sector.
City AM had the full story of what happened to Axion Ince here.
The SFO’s investigation was opened 15 months ago, the first case opened by director Nick Ephgrave and is noted one of its fastest to result in criminal charges.
Five men were charged with offences including fraud, forgery and the destruction of documents, including chief executive and director Pragnesh Modhwadia, co-director Shyam Mistry and chief financial officer Muhammad Ali.
Modhwadia, Mistry and Ali are charged with two counts of fraud by abuse of position, as all three are alleged to have misused client funds and exposed thousands of the firm’s clients to losses.
Modhwadia and Mistry are also charged, alongside the firm’s chief technology officer Rupesh Karawadra and vice president of IT Jayesh Anjaria with conspiring to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents relevant to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation into the firm.
All five are also charged with conspiring to mislead the legal regulator by using false documents.
In addition to intervening the firm last October, the legal regulator also suspended three directors, including Modhwadia.
All five men are expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 15 January 2025 to answer the charges against them.
Commenting on the news, Nick Ephgrave, SFO’s director said: “The collapse of Axiom Ince left thousands of clients exposed to significant losses and hundreds of people out of a job.”
“The SFO set out to identify and bring those responsible to justice, and today’s charging is a significant milestone in achieving that.”
“I pledged at the start of my tenure to speed up case progression at the SFO and with this investigation, opened only 15 months ago, we have conducted a thorough and targeted investigation in record time to bring these charges today,” he added.