Andrew Adeniyi Abereoji

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

The Respondent, an assistant solicitor, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court on 21 February 2013 of fraud by abuse of position and theft (by employee), receiving concurrent 2-year prison sentences for stealing client monies over several years using sophisticated concealment. The Tribunal found breaches of Principles 1, 2 and 6, treated the matter under the dishonesty test in SRA v Sharma finding no exceptional circumstances, and ordered him struck off the Roll plus costs of £2,112 (not to be enforced without leave due to his financial circumstances).

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Abuse of position of trust
• Theft of client monies from employer and members of public over a lengthy period
• Sophisticated concealment including bogus QC correspondence on fake web address
• Caused great damage to reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted the allegation
• Requested his own name be struck off
• Cited health and personal difficulties