Alastair McBean Blackwood

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

Complaint by the Law Society of Scotland against Alastair McBean Blackwood, a solicitor (admitted 1978, currently suspended and incarcerated at HMP Castle Huntly). The Complaint alleged professional misconduct arising from his facilitation of Edwin McLaren's large-scale property fraud/money laundering scheme between 2010-2013, in which homeowners were induced to sell their properties at undervalue. The Respondent acted as conveyancer in numerous transactions (appendices 2-15), repeatedly taking instructions from McLaren rather than clients, failing to meet clients, failing to verify identity/source of funds, failing to carry out enhanced due diligence, and misclassifying high-risk transactions as low risk. The provided text covers extensive procedural hearings (objection to a suspended solicitor lay representative, late answers, preliminary pleas, motion to dismiss all refused/handled) and the Tribunal's findings of fact established at the 27 October 2025 hearing (held in the Respondent's absence). The excerpt does not contain an express finding of dishonesty, a formal misconduct conclusion, or any sanction/costs order.

Duties found breached:

• Handle inadvertently received material
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• No taking unfair advantage
• Not misrepresent regulated status
• Proper basis for allegations