Lawyers and client accounts: sand through a colander

Abstract

Purpose

To report empirical information about the scale of suspicious money movements through solicitors.

Design/methodology/approach

Review of selected criminal, civil and disciplinary cases.

Findings

The cases disclose at least £240 million moving through solicitors' hands in the absence of an underlying transaction in which the solicitor is providing legal advice.

Originality/value

A contribution to: the empirical data about laundering; raising the possibility of better control by regulatory rules about how lawyers hold and transfer money.

Citation

Middleton, D.J. (2008), "Lawyers and client accounts: sand through a colander", Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 34-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/13685200810844488