Habib-Ur-Rahmaan Maroof

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

The Respondent, admitted as a solicitor in 2000, was convicted in a German criminal court in 2015 of aiding and abetting VAT carousel tax evasion (seven counts) and one count of attempted tax evasion by acquiescence, relating to conduct in 2011. He also failed to respond to SRA requests for information between 2018 and 2019, including a s44B Notice. He admitted all allegations, including dishonesty. Dealt with on the papers by way of Agreed Outcome, the Tribunal found the admissions properly made and, applying the Sanctions Guidance and Sharma principles, found no exceptional circumstances to depart from striking off. The Respondent was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £1,000.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty found in relation to criminal conduct
• Large loss to German tax authority (VAT of over 7.2 million euros unlawfully reduced)
• Conduct part of a substantial criminal organisation demonstrating criminal energy
• Failure to cooperate with SRA investigation over an extended period

Mitigating factors:

• Self-reported the matter to the SRA
• Full admissions made
• Made a full confession in the German criminal proceedings