Rehana Saeed

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

Rehana Saeed, a solicitor at Carter Devile who acted for the buyer in two conveyancing transactions, faced SRA allegations relating to inadequate scrutiny of third-party source of funds (breaching AML Regulation 28(11)(a)) and failures to update/provide accurate information to mortgage lenders on Properties A and B. She admitted allegations 1.1 and 1.2 in full, which the Tribunal found proved (Principles 6, 7, 8 and Outcome 7.5). For allegation 1.3 she admitted only the Principle 6 breach; the Tribunal accepted her evidence that she believed the funds belonged to Person E (sole owner of the relevant entities) and that her failings were inadvertent errors of judgment due to inexperience and the Firm's AML deficiencies, not a conscious decision. The Tribunal therefore did NOT find a breach of Principle 2 (integrity) or failure of Outcome 10.1 on allegation 1.3. No express finding of dishonesty appears in the available text. The text is truncated before findings on allegations 1.4 and 1.5 and before any sanction or costs determination.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Prior 2016 Regulatory Settlement Agreement (rebuke and £2,000 fine) involving admitted lack of integrity in misleading lenders (though Tribunal ultimately gave it no weight)
• Practising Certificate subject to conditions at the relevant time

Mitigating factors:

• Self-reported concerns about the seller's solicitors to the SRA on 12 June 2019
• Admitted failings from the outset
• Undertook training since the events
• Inexperience in the transactions and significant AML failings on the part of the Firm