Uyiosasere On Obaseki

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

Uyiosasere Ona Obaseki, sole owner/manager of Grazing Hill Ltd, acted for a client whose funds (£230,000) she improperly transferred from the client account through her personal account into a fraudulent investment scheme (ISG Exchange), which were lost. Of eight allegations, three (1.1, 1.2, 1.7) were not proved and five were proved. Dishonesty was alleged on all but found proved only on allegations 1.6 (misleading professional indemnity insurers) and 1.8 (failing to make a timely/accurate report to the client of the loss). She had concealed the loss for over a year and told the client a series of lies. The Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and struck her off the Roll, ordering costs of £52,686 (reduced from the £68,082 claimed, with deductions for unproven allegations, the unnecessary interpreter fee, and unexplained 'Other' FIO costs).

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty found proved in two allegations
• Misconduct continued over a period of time and was deliberate, calculated and repeated in terms of lies told to the client about the whereabouts of his money
• Several occasions when she could have told the client the truth but deliberately did not
• Experienced solicitor with direct control as sole practitioner, COLP and COFA
• Failed to notify the regulator; SRA found out indirectly via client's Compensation Fund application
• Previous appearance before the Tribunal in 2007 (reprimand)
• Lack of insight into misconduct

Mitigating factors:

• Made some efforts to reimburse the client; significant amount (£177,000) repaid
• Did not intend to harm the client
• Herself a victim of investment scammers (though Tribunal found this irrelevant to dealings with client and insurer)