The Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) at failed law firm PM Law has been disqualified from holding senior and compliance roles in law firms under section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007, according to a Solicitors Regulation Authority decision published this week.
Jonathon Bostock, a chartered accountant, was a non-lawyer manager and head of finance and administration (HOFA) of the licensed bodies that made up the PM Law group, which went into administration earlier this year. The firm, which included 11 companies, 25 offices and more than 30 trading names spread across Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire, Derbyshire and London, closed suddenly in February with the loss of 600 jobs.
In April, the SRA said it was investigating a “sophisticated suspected fraud” connected to the improper removal and misuse of around £39.5 million of client funds.
In a decision published on the SRA website, the regulator said Bostock “exercised senior managerial control and financial authority across the firm, including oversight of its financial controls. He led the firm’s accounts team and reported to Donald Mackay, solicitor, owner and chairman of the firm.”
The allegations against Bostock include enabling the withdrawal of funds from the client account, which led to the shortage, in breach of SRA Accounts Rules; failing to report the financial difficulties the firm faced to the regulator; misleading the regulator by providing documents and information which “he knew or ought to have known to be false and misleading”; and fabricating the bank balances on a number of client and office accounts operated by the firm and using these to mislead another as to the firm’s financial position.
The SRA confirmed Bostock’s breaches resulted in a disqualification order, saying: “Mr Bostock’s conduct breached relevant duties that applied to him as manager and HOFA at the firm, namely the SRA Principles, the SRA Accounts Rules and the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms.”
The regulator added it would be “undesirable” for Bostock to act as a head of legal practice, head of finance and administration, a manager or employee of a law firm. Bostock was disqualified from holding any of these roles and directed to pay costs of £1,350.
