The sole principal of an immigration firm has been struck off after he admitted misappropriating more than £160,000 of clients’ money.
Charles Ogbonna Azotam, admitted on 17 June 2013, established Charles Hill & Co Solicitors, in Camberwell, London, in August 2017. He was the sole principal at the firm.
Azotam transferred £20,000 and then a further £5,000 of client funds to the firm’s business account and then from there to another firm to settle a personal debt. A further £9,265 was transferred from the firm’s client account to the firm’s business account and on the same day a payment of £10,000 was made to pay the firm’s rent.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority identified a total shortage of £163,122.83 on the firm’s client account.
Azotam also issued a £122,009.82 cheque to a client on two occasions when he knew that the firm did not have sufficient funds. On the second occasion, after the client failed to cash the first cheque, the client account balance stood at £6.28.
The SRA intervened in the firm in March 2024.
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In non-agreed mitigation, Azotam ‘expressed remorse for his actions and conduct’ adding he was subject to a bankruptcy order, had been unemployed since 2024 and the transfers were made from the firm’s client account to its business account ‘to support the business due to issues with cash flow’.
In an agreed outcome judgment, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said it was ‘satisfied on the balance of probabilities’ that Azotam’s admissions were properly made.
Considering sanction, it said Azotam had acted in a ‘clear breach of a position of trust’ and his conduct involved ‘admitted dishonesty’, adding: ‘His motivation for misappropriating client funds and issuing cheques, knowing they would not be honoured, was financial. The harm extended beyond financial loss to clients, encompassing reputational damage to the profession, procedural disruption, and regulatory risk.’
Striking Azotam off the roll was the ‘only appropriate and proportionate sanction’, the SDT said. Azotam was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
