Ban for paralegal who transferred client money to her sister
Also diverted funds to herself

A paralegal who transferred client funds to her sister and herself has been banned from working in the legal profession.
Amina Begum, also known as Amina Miah, worked as a paralegal in the private client department of the now closed law firm Bourne Harris.
The paralegal arranged for nearly £13,000 to be paid to her sister while assisting on a probate matter, according to a decision notice published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). She was able to do this by creating a backdated letter and amending completed estate accounts to include the payment, and then authorised this without a legitimate invoice.
This was client money held by the firm and created a shortfall in the firm’s client account.
On the same file, Begum is also said to have written to a pension provider with a payment request for £19,812 which diverted estate funds into her bank account rather than the firm’s. She did this by giving the impression her bank account belonged to the firm and “fabricated” the signatures of the two executors of the estate, the regulator said.
The incidents occurred on 16 and 17 January 2020, and her employment was terminated on 28 January.
The SRA described Begum’s conduct as “serious”, noting that she had been “dishonest on several occasions to obtain, by deception, substantial sums of money either for her sister or herself”.
Begum was hit with a section 43 order, meaning that she can’t work for any firm of solicitors without the regulator’s say-so. She was also ordered to pay costs of £200.
5 Comments
Irrelevant
Did she pay back the money or is this assumed? the article only talks about the bar and the £200 in costs she is ordered to pay back.
Anon
I mean surely she was prosecuted, this is just a really poor attempt at fraud isn’t it?
Lol
Bruh
LegalCashierLovesSRARules
The firm was incorporated in 2016, I assume they had SRA audits annually, why were controls not put in place to protect client monies. The individual has been an opportunist to weak/ ineffective controls, which the SRA are supposed to audit firms on? How a paralegal can draw a client account cheque is beyond me.
Saras
Not enough scrutiny of people in legal profession.