Naveen Sagar

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Naveen Sagar, a solicitor and former partner at Mehra & Co, was convicted at Kingston Crown Court in December 2007 on his guilty pleas of three counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, conspiracy to obtain property by deception, false accounting and contempt of court, receiving 14½ years imprisonment (reduced to 10 years on appeal). His crimes included fabricating evidence to reclaim seized cash for a criminal gang, submitting false interpreter invoices to defraud the Legal Services Commission, falsifying a document to the Inland Revenue, and photographing a jury during a trial. The Tribunal, proceeding in his absence and refusing an adjournment, described his conduct as 'breathtaking criminality' and struck him off the Roll, ordering him to pay costs of £5,000.

Duties found breached:

• Disclose adverse law to the court
• Proper basis for allegations
• No improper communication with the court

Aggravating factors:

• Breathtaking criminality; sentenced to 14½ years imprisonment (reduced to 10 on appeal)
• Fabricated evidence and produced false witnesses
• Severe damage to the reputation and public trust in the profession
• Acted for organised crime gang members