TWO FRAUDSTERS taking more than £2.3 million from a solicitors firm in Berkshire have been sentenced.

Andrew Davies, aged 59 of The Street, West Clandon, Guildford pleaded guilty to one count of Fraud by False Representation at Reading Crown Court on 9 October 2019. He was sentenced on 11 January 2021 to four years’ imprisonment.

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Stephen Allan, aged 62, of Thornberra Road, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire was convicted by jury at Reading Crown Court on Wednesday, June 9, on one count of money laundering and was sentenced on the same day to three year’s imprisonment.

The jail time relates to a solicitor's firm in Berkshire who were defrauded out of £2.3 million between April 2020 and July 2017.

It was heard in court that Davies was a senior partner working at the firm at the time, and over a seven-year period Davies paid himself personal invoices to himself from the business.

Davies also under-declared £1.1 million in Stemp Duty Land Tax to HMRC over nine years, over-declaring tax to clients and then taking money from the solicitor's firm's account for himself, defrauding the company and HMRC at the same time.

He also raised invoices to pay over £1.16 million to his friend and property developer Stephen Allan, who was a client of the law firm. Allan then made smaller payments into Davies' [personal account, pocketing £400,000 for himself.

Davies extracted funds from the firm’s client account, paying it to Stephen Allan in transactions described as ‘fees’, but there was no known work for this.

The total of all these actions by Davies amounted to a total of over £2.3 million being defrauded by the solicitor.

Reading Chronicle:

Davies and Allan were both charged by postal notification on 2 August 2019.

Davies has also been subject to a hearing by the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal in which he was struck from the Solicitor’s Roll and ordered to pay £17,000 in costs

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Katie Taylor of Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “Thames Valley Police’s Economic Crime Unit are committed to tacking serious, organised Economic Crime.

“In this case a solicitor who was trusted to safeguard client funds, abused this position and systematically defrauded his firm of large sums of money for his own benefit.

"He then used a corrupt relationship to launder the proceeds of his crime through a property developer. “These professional enablers of organised crime represent a significant risk and we hope that the conviction and sentence in this case will act as a deterrent to others.

“Fraud and money laundering on this scale is serious crime and can have devastating effects on the victims.”

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“Thames Valley Police will continue to pursue and disrupt offenders in this arena and use the full range of powers available to ensure criminals do not benefit from their crimes.”

“We will continue to work with partners including HMRC in order to bring successful convictions at court.”

A spokesperson for HM Revenue and Customs, said: “Close-working between HMRC investigators and Thames Valley Police has brought two criminals to justice.

“Andrew Davies abused his position to defraud HMRC of £1.1 million over a nine-year period, money that should have been used to support our vital public services.

“If you suspect tax fraud is being committed please call the HMRC Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”