A councillor whose law firm was shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last week is stepping down from his cabinet post, the council leader has said.
The regulator published intervention notices on Friday stating that it had closed London-based immigration specialist SZ Solicitors Limited and suspended the practising certificates of managers Raghwinder Singh Siddhu and Mohammad Saeed Zafar.
Siddhu serves as Labour councillor for Bedfont in the London Borough of Hounslow and was mayor of Hounslow in 2022.
In a statement posted on Hounslow Council’s website yesterday evening, council leader Shantanu Rajawat said Siddhu notified him ‘of his intention to step away from his cabinet role, and I thank him for his service’. Siddhu was cabinet member for public safety, regulatory services and enforcement.
The SRA has accused SZ Solicitors, Zafar and Siddhu of failing to comply with the regulator’s code of conduct for firms, code of conduct for solicitors, RELs and RFLs, and accounts rules. The SRA said there was ‘reason to suspect dishonesty’ on the part of Zafar and Siddhu as managers of the firm 'in connection with the firm's business'.
Zafar told the Gazette the SRA's intervention was 'unjustified' and a 'misuse of power'.
According to documents filed with Companies House for SZ Solicitors, Siddhu resigned as a director and ceased to be a person with significant control on 16 June. Zafar is listed as a director.
