By Andrew Young
A solicitor caught up in a funding arrangement that ‘bore the hallmarks of a dubious investment scheme’ has been fined £25,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
Mark Andrew Fallon was director of a recognised body called Mr Finch Limited, established in 2016 after previously holding senior positions at Irwin Mitchell and Lance Mason.
Mr.Fallon is accused of allowing owed funds to be transferred from the Firm’s Office Account to third parties under the pretexts that the were debts owed by the Firm to a lender, despite knowing that the banks had frozen the accounts of all individuals and assets associated with the lender.
Between April and August 2016,He was also accused of failing to adequately to monitor the funding arrangements for the firm, including loans and other financial plans, and acted recklessly in failing to do so.
In 2016 Mr Finch received over £1m from an ‘alternative investment fund management company’ called Sable International Finance Limited. No organisation is currently listed under that name on Companies House.
Fallon admitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority that Sable showed signs of being ‘a dubious scheme’. For example, it displayed an ‘absence of commercial rationale’ as the rates being offered meant it could not make any profit.