The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) today charged five men, including two solicitors, with offences including fraud, forgery, and the destruction of documents, following the collapse of the law firm Axiom Ince and alleged improper use of over £60 million of client money.
The firm’s CEO and director Pragnesh Modhwadia is charged alongside co-director Shyam Mistry and Chief Financial Officer Muhammad Ali with two counts of fraud by abuse of position. They are alleged to have misused client funds and exposed thousands of the firm’s clients to losses.
Modhwadia and Mistry are also charged, alongside the firm’s Chief Technology Officer Rupesh Karawadra and Vice President of IT Jayesh Anjaria, with conspiring to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents relevant to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation into the firm. All five are also charged with conspiring to mislead the SRA using false documents.
Axiom Ince was closed by the SRA on 3 October 2023. At the time, the group had offices across the country, including in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester.
The SFO’s investigation was opened 15 months ago and is one of its fastest to result in criminal charges.
Nick Ephgrave QPM, Director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), said
“The collapse of Axiom Ince left thousands of clients exposed to significant losses and hundreds of people out of a job. The SFO set out to identify and bring those responsible to justice, and today’s charging is a significant milestone in achieving that.
“I pledged at the start of my tenure to speed up case progression at the SFO and with this investigation, opened only 15 months ago, we have conducted a thorough and targeted investigation in record time to bring these charges today.”
All defendants are expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 15th January to answer the charges against them.
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