The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned the manager of a law firm from working in financial services, after he allowed more than £28 million of client money to be taken from accounts without authorisation.
The FCA acted after an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) into Nurul Miah, also known as Neil Mia and Neil Miah, found the former non-legal manager at Kingly Solicitors Limited “dishonestly caused or allowed” more than £28 million of client money to be taken from client accounts without permission between April 2019 and July 2020.
The SRA also found that more than £10 million of client money was missing and had been used by Mr Miah for his own benefit.
The firm was shut down in 2020 due to “serious concerns about the misuse of client funds”.
The SRA imposed its “largest ever fine” of almost £4 million on Kingly Solicitors last May and banned Miah from holding any position in a regulated law firm after investigations revealed 310 improper transfers from client accounts to companies he was linked to linked to between April 2019 and July 2020.
The payments were used for “inappropriate purposes”, the SRA reported, including loan repayments and to buy assets unrelated to the business.
Further findings uncovered forged statements attempting to conceal the unauthorised transactions. Despite the return of some funds, a shortfall of approximately £10 million remained at the firm.
The SRA also collected and secured 220,000 files from various offices linked to Miah, including more than 90,000 wills and deeds.
Paul Philip, the former chief executive of the SRA, said at the time that Miah’s dishonesty had “impacted thousands of people”.
Miah had been approved by the FCA to work in senior management roles at an unconnected firm, Oracle Consultants Ltd, in 2016. The FCA has now concluded Miah’s actions showed he “lacked the honesty and integrity needed to work in financial services”.
Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: “Mr Miah dishonestly used client money for his own benefit. He has no place in financial services.
“We have banned him to protect consumers and help maintain confidence in the financial system.”
