A sole practitioner who demonstrated a ‘reckless disregard’ for his regulatory obligations has been fined more than £20,000.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority found that Bryn Roberts, admitted in 1980, who practices with Evans Roberts in the Powys town of Machynlleth, failed to comply with an undertaking, failed to act in the best interests of clients, authorised an improper transfer from the client accounts and failed to keep a book of accounts.
He had also failed to cooperate with the SRA and the legal ombudsman on the many occasions when they had tried to make contact with him.
The SRA said Roberts had direct control for the conduct, only taking remedial action when prompted and once the misconduct had persisted longer than was reasonable. There were no mitigating factors, the SRA added. It was decided that the conduct was so serious that Roberts should be subject to a financial penalty worth between 65% and 97% of his gross annual income. He was fined £20,148 and ordered to pay £1,350 costs.
The SRA received its first report in 2021 about Roberts’ handling of an estate and delays in the administration. The regulator tried three times over eight months to contact him and eventually issued a production notice due to the slow response.
A subsequent forensic investigation found a client account shortage of almost £31,000 that had lasted for nearly three years and took four months to be rectified. The SRA then received a further six complaints between September 2023 and May 2024 about the firm, including a report from the ombudsman.
Roberts failed to respond to the SRA’s questions and document requests before a second investigation was launched and did not submit an accountant’s report within the six months required by accounts rules.
