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08 January 2025
Issue: 8099 / Categories: Legal News , Fraud , Regulatory , Legal services
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Axiom Ince five charged by Serious Fraud Office

Five men, including two solicitors, are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court next week to answer charges against them in connection with the collapse of Axiom Ince.

In December, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) charged the firm’s CEO and director Pragnesh Modhwadia, co-director Shyam Mistry and chief financial officer Muhammad Ali with two counts of fraud by abuse of position. 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 SRA using false documents. 

The SRA closed the firm in October 2023.

SFO director Nick Ephgrave said: ‘The collapse of Axiom Ince left thousands of clients exposed to significant losses and hundreds of people out of a job.’

Issue: 8099 / Categories: Legal News , Fraud , Regulatory , Legal services
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

NLJ Career Profile: John McElroy, London Solicitors Litigation Association

From first-generation student to trailblazing president of the London Solicitors Litigation Association, John McElroy of Fieldfisher reflects on resilience, identity and the power of bringing your whole self to the law

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Clarke Willmott—Elaine Field

Planning and environment team expands with partner hire in Manchester

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Birketts—Barbara Hamilton-Bruce

Firm appoints chief operating officer to strengthen leadership team

NEWS
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Litigators digesting Mazur are being urged to tighten oversight and compliance. In his latest 'Insider' column for NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School provides a cut out and keep guide to the ruling’s core test: whether an unauthorised individual is ‘in truth acting on behalf of the authorised individual’
Conflicting county court rulings have left landlords uncertain over whether they can force entry after tenants refuse access. In this week's NLJ, Edward Blakeney and Ashpen Rajah of Falcon Chambers outline a split: some judges permit it under CPR 70.2A, others insist only Parliament can authorise such powers
A wave of scandals has reignited debate over misconduct in public office, criticised as unclear and inconsistently applied. Writing in NLJ this week, Alice Lepeuple of WilmerHale says the offence’s ‘vagueness, overbreadth & inconsistent deployment’ have undermined confidence
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