MAY 2025 - The SRA's largest fine - £4 million for ‘serious’ and ‘intentional’ misconduct

IT WAS REPORTED IN May 2025, that the owner and manager of former London-based law firm Kingly Solicitors has been fined over £4 million for ‘serious’ and ‘intentional’ misconduct in the largest penalty the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has ever issued.

Nurul Miah, who is not a solicitor, was ordered to pay a financial penalty of £3,984,440, costs of £41,670 and banned from holding any position in an SRA-regulated law firm.

Investigations by the SRA revealed

• 310 improper transfers from client accounts to companies linked to Mr Miah, which it says were used for ‘inappropriate purposes’ such as loan repayments and to buy assets unrelated to the business.
• Forged statements that attempted to conceal the unauthorised transactions were also uncovered.

The fine was more than the £25,000 maximum the SRA can currently levy for traditional practices because Kingly Solicitors was an alternative business structure (ABS). As such, the maximum financial penalty it can impose is £50m for an individual and £250m for the entity.

Three other people connected to the firm were also subject to disciplinary procedures:

• Consultant Lalou Tifrit was ordered to pay £28,230 in costs and disqualified from working in a regulated firm without SRA permission;
• Colin Buckingham was disqualified from working as a head of finance and administration in a regulated firm without SRA permission and ordered to pay £1,350 in costs; and
• Solicitor Simon Hutcheson was fined £26,766, ordered to pay £1,350 in costs and subjected to practice restrictions.

After closing the firm in 2020, the SRA secured £22.5 million in client money, but a shortfall of £10 million in missing funds remains.

• ‘We have also collected and secured 220,000 files from the various offices, including more than 90,000 wills and deeds,’ the SRA said.

Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, added:

• “This is the largest fine we have ever issued. Mr Miah’s dishonesty impacted thousands of people. We stepped in to safeguard their interests – closing the firm, securing files and returning money to clients.
• “This action concludes our investigations. We have been ensuring that law enforcement is provided with all the relevant evidence. Meanwhile, we continue to review how best to protect client funds, with further steps to be announced later this year.”

SOURCE

• https://todaysconveyancer.co.uk/sra-issues-4-million-fine-serious-intentional-misuse-client-funds/
• https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/636560/
• https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/636560/