The sole manager and COFA of a law firm has been fined £10,500 and ordered to pay more than £46,000 in costs by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after admitting breaches of accounts rules and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance requirements.
Musa Audu, the sole manager of London-based Audu & Co, admitted to authorising five improper transfers totalling £10,100 from the client account to the office bank account between 29 April 2022 and 11 May 2023, as well as further breaches.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) brought the case before the SDT, alleging that Audu had breached accounts rules and acted dishonestly in his duties. The hearing took place on 22 and 23 September.
Although the first allegation was proven, the tribunal did not find that Audu had acted dishonestly “on the balance of probabilities”, as he genuinely believed the money he transferred belonged to him.
The solicitor admitted, while also being COFA of the firm, to allowing the company’s client bank account to be used as a banking facility in relation to two clients, along with failing to keep accounting records properly written up to show the firm’s dealings with client and office money in relation to two further clients.
These incidents occurred between 29 September 2020 and 7 December 2022.
Audu also failed to undertake proper client account reconciliations between April and July 2023, the Tribunal heard, and submitted the firm’s accountant’s report late for the period ending June 2022.
This all amounted to breaches of the SRA account rules, the SDT confirmed.
Also, while acting as the firm’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Money Laundering Compliance Officer, Audu failed to ensure the firm complied with obligations imposed by the MLRs 2007 and MLRs 2017.
Failures included the firm not having a risk assessment or policies, controls and procedures in relation to AML, as well as failing to take measures to establish source of funds or undertake client and matter risk assessments in relation to a client (client D).
Audu was fined £10,500 to “mark the seriousness of the breaches”, the SDT concluded.
Conditions of practice were imposed on the solicitor following the conclusion of the Tribunal, meaning he can no longer act as a manger or owner of an authorised body, practise on his own account, hold or receive client money or act as a signatory to any client or office account.
Audu will also no longer have powers to authorise transfers from any client or office account and cannot act as a COLP or COFA for any authorised body.
He was also ordered to pay costs in the sum of £46,620.65.
