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Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has charged five men with crimes ranging from fraud to forgery following the collapse of law firm Axiom Ince, which went bankrupt and saw more than £60 million of client money disappear.
The SFO said on Friday it had charged the company’s former CEO and director Pragnesh Modhwadia, co-director Shyam Mistry and chief financial officer Muhammad Ali with two counts of fraud by abuse of position. The agency said they allegedly misused customers’ money and exposed thousands of the company’s customers to losses.
Modhwadia and Mistry are also accused of conspiring to conceal, destroy or delete documents, along with former chief technology officer Rupesh Karawadra and vice president of IT Jayesh Anjaria.
In addition, all five men are charged with conspiracy to deceive the Solicitors Regulation Authority with false documents.
Axiom Ince was closed by the SRA in October 2023, following allegations that customer funds had been misappropriated, and the SFO carried out a series of raids and arrests in connection with its collapse the following month. At the time of its closure, the company had offices in cities across the country, including Birmingham, London and Manchester.
“The collapse of Axiom Ince exposed thousands of customers to significant losses and left hundreds of people unemployed,” SFO chief executive Nick Ephgrave said in a statement.
“I committed at the start of my term to accelerate the progress of the case at the SFO and with this investigation, which only opened fifteen months ago, we have conducted a thorough and focused investigation in record time to bring these charges today ”, he added.
The suspects are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in January to face charges. All suspects except Modhwadia were charged at Charing Cross police station in the last two days.
Modhwadia and Mistry were both practicing lawyers at the time of the alleged crime. Details from representatives of the defendants were not immediately available.
The Axiom Ince case was Ephgrave’s first raid after taking the helm at the agency in September 2023. Under his leadership, the SFO has pledged to take faster action on cases in an effort to improve the agency’s long-standing reputation. plagued by high-profile cases and inefficiencies.
Since becoming director, Ephgrave has opened seven new investigations and hired dozens of attorneys and investigators for the agency.