Selliah Veeravagu

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

Selliah Veeravagu, a sole practitioner solicitor, was found guilty of conduct unbefitting a solicitor for failing to maintain properly written books of account and failing to produce documents required by the Law Society. Investigation revealed missing client cash book entries, unbalanced client ledgers and no reconciliation comparisons, and the Respondent repeatedly failed to carry out the required accounts work. He did not appear at the hearing. No express finding of dishonesty was made. This case was heard with three related cases (8857, 8858, 8860-2003), and the Tribunal ordered the Respondent be struck off the Roll and pay 100% of the costs in this case, subject to detailed assessment.

Duties found breached:

• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Failure to cooperate with his own professional body despite the Investigation Accountant's flexibility
• Repeated postponements and ultimately telling the Investigation Accountant to just issue his report
• Part of a pattern across four related cases in which allegations were substantiated