Leon Braunstein

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

Solicitor Leon Braunstein faced consolidated applications from an Iranian charity (Mostazafan and Janbazan Foundation) and the OSS. While purporting to act for the charity, he secretly sued it for £205,000, obtained a default judgment, and tricked the client into disclosing bank details and transferring funds so he could obtain a garnishee order. He also failed to account for US$10,781.50 from Rover, acted against former clients holding their confidential information, committed serious Accounts Rules breaches (including borrowing client funds and making improper withdrawals), practised in breach of a Practising Certificate condition, failed to supervise a trainee, and was found by a High Court judge to have given dishonest evidence. The Tribunal found all allegations proved, expressly noting dishonest conduct, and struck him off the Roll, ordering costs of £4,975.55 and £7,164.00 legal costs plus £9,199.00 investigation accountant costs.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• No acting against a former client
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• Supervise staff and delegated work
• Hold a current practising certificate

Aggravating factors:

• Flagrant breach of trust against a charitable client
• Blatant use of clients' funds
• Deceiving own client through tricks to obtain funds via garnishee order
• Judicial finding of dishonest conduct and lying in court
• Repeated and multiple breaches of professional conduct rules
• Failure to cooperate/provide requested evidence to investigators

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=21338.55"]