Tarik Akhtar

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

Tarik Akhtar, a solicitor and partner at AA Arden Solicitors, was found to have altered an email from the SRA and an email from insurer Zurich, and falsified insurance documents, in order to mislead his business partner Mrs Amoo-Gottfried and obtain financial gain (she overpaid the insurance premium). He also failed to report a £33,783.08 County Court Judgment obtained against him by the London Borough of Wandsworth. All four allegations were proved beyond reasonable doubt, and dishonesty was expressly found under the Twinsectra test. The Respondent did not engage with proceedings or attend the hearing, which proceeded in his absence after substituted and personal service. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £12,624.20.

Duties found breached:

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

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty proved
• Misconduct repeated over a period of time
• Deliberate, calculated falsification of documents
• Concealment of wrongdoing, only discovered through investigation
• Motivated by personal financial gain causing loss to partner
• High level of experience
• Failure to engage with proceedings