Kwame Agyekum Siaw

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

The Respondent, a partner at Mountain Partnership Solicitors, acted on an immigration/judicial review matter for Client K, provided his personal bank account details and received £500 into his personal account on 20 August 2015, failing to account for it (or part of it, beyond £205 disbursements) to the firm, breaching Principles 2 and 6 and Rule 14.1. He also told the SRA in a 22 May 2017 email that he had not received payment of costs into his personal account, which was untrue/misleading, breaching Principles 2, 6 and 7. The SDT found the allegations proved but did NOT find dishonesty, imposing a £10,000 fine plus £3,371 costs. The SRA appealed; the High Court allowed the appeal, substituted an express finding of dishonesty, quashed the fine and ordered the Respondent be struck off the Roll.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No improper use of client money
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Clients (Mr and Mrs K) were vulnerable at the material time
• Experienced solicitor (over 15 years) and a partner/COLP at the firm

Mitigating factors:

• Motivated by a desire to help a friend rather than personal gain
• Conduct of short duration (about four weeks)
• Otherwise unblemished career with no prior disciplinary findings
• Genuine contrition and offer to refund the money