Wolstenholmes chief struck off for ‘inexcusable failures’

THE former chief executive of Manchester law firm Wolstenholmes, which collapsed owing clients £13m, has been struck off by the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) which described the case as “the worst of its type”.

Nasir Ilyas was banned from practicing as a lawyer on the third day of his hearing in a prosecution brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

He has also been ordered to pay costs of £170,000.

The tribunal said the firm, which specialised in conveyancing and left around 2,500 clients seeking compensation, was “in chaos” and there was an “inexcusable array of failures”. Mr Ilyas’ account was said to be “implausible and, at times, untruthful and his denial incredulous”.

He was the fifth member of Wolstenholmes disciplined by the SDT, which heard the cases of four others together with an employee of the firm in May 2013.

Wolstenholmes was closed down by the SRA in December 2009 on the grounds of suspected dishonesty and breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Rules. The tribunal found all eight allegations brought by the SRA proven against Mr Ilyas.

The allegations were: causing or permitting unqualified third parties to have an inappropriate degree of control and influence over the firm – including non-solicitor Waseem Saddique who had been made bankrupt on 27 April 2009; failing to act in the best interests of clients; behaving in a way likely to diminish the trust the public placed in him and the profession; failing to act in accordance with management responsibilities; failing to maintain proper books of account; breaching Solicitors Accounts Rules 1, 19 and 22; failing to co-operate with the SRA’s investigation into the firm; and acting with a lack of integrity and dishonestly in relation to each of those allegations. It was also alleged that Mr Ilyas had dishonestly sought to mislead the SRA during its investigation.

Evidence included testimony from several clients whose conveyancing transactions had been handled by the firm. In one instance a client left the proceeds of a sale with the firm to make another purchase only to be told the office had closed. She eventually received compensation of £150,000 the following year.

Gordon Ramsay, SRA Director for legal and enforcement, said: “The decision of the SDT brings to a close a massive investigation on behalf of a large number of clients who put their trust in Wolstenholmes, and found that trust abused. So far we have paid out more than £13m from the compensation fund to victims of the actions of Mr Ilyas and his colleagues.”

At the hearing in May 2013, four other members and an employee of the firm faced many of the same allegations brought against Ilyas, which included two allegations of dishonesty against Imran Hussain and one allegation of dishonesty levelled at Asma Qayum. They were both struck off and ordered to pay costs of £137,229 and £91,905 respectively. Helen Murgatroyd was suspended for two years, Bilal Khawaja for one year and Bobby Shabbir was suspended for six months.

Ilyas, Hussain, Khawaja, Murgatroyd, and Shabbir have also been disqualified from holding company directorships along with Waseem Saddique and Mario Cardinali who were not qualified solicitors.