Seaford: £10,000 loans solicitor struck off

AN old man spent his last days living on bread and milk while his Seaford lawyer loaned £10,000 of his money to help another cash-strapped client, a tribunal heard.

Wilfred Geoghegan, 62, maintained he got permission for the deal from his eccentric client shortly before he passed away.

But he was struck off at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in London on Thursday last week for conduct which 'teetered on the edge of dishonesty'.

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It was revealed that no evidence of the large loan was found on the lawyer s files three years after the transaction was carried out.

The tribunal was told that Mr Geoghegan, of Southdown Road, acted as sole trustee for the old man.

The client, referred to only as Mr B, had lived alone without heating or lighting on a diet of bread and milk before his death.

It was also revealed Mr B had been charged twice for the same work carried out by the lawyer.

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Peter Cadman, for the Law Society, said the irregularities arose while Mr Geoghegan was running his own firm Wilfred and Co from offices in Dane Road, Seaford.

David Shaw, an investigator, was sent in to examine the firm s accounts in August 1999. But he noticed the 10,000 sum had been taken out of Mr B s account some years earlier.

The loan came in October 1996 while Mr B died just three months later in January the following year.

'I looked through the files and I could not see to what use the 10,000 had been put,' said Mr Shaw.

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'Mr Geoghegan said he thought he knew what the money was concerned with but did not want to give me an explanation,' he added.

Mr Shaw said it was four months before he received a letter explaining that the cash had been loaned to a couple, referred to as Mr and Mrs E, but he received no further details.

'Having been given an explanation I then left the 'B' matter and looked at the estate accounts and the estate accounts could not show the assets.'

Mr Geoghegan defended his actions and denied acting dishonestly. He told the tribunal: 'My manner and the way I dealt with clients was not orthodox. I would go out of my way to see clients who a lot of other solicitors would not see.'

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He admitted overcharging Mr B but said: 'It was a mistake which would have been picked up when the estate accounts were being dealt with.'

The lawyer told the tribunal how on one occasion he had to call police officers to break down the door of Mr B's home. 'Police officers discovered him underneath the bed completely naked.'

Mr Geoghegan said his reclusive elderly client, in his mid-seventies, was suffering from hypothermia which induced a sensation of 'euphoria and feelings of warmth'.

He insisted he had never acted dishonestly and the tribunal cleared him on that issue.

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He added: 'No way. I have never taken anything from any client.'

The lawyer said Mr B had agreed to his money being used as a loan to another client for three months.

A promissory note was made covering the money, but it was missing from the file when investigators examined the books, said Mr Geoghegan.

The solicitor told the hearing he repaid the 10,000 from his own pocket after Mr and Mrs E had further difficulties.

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His counsel, Jack Friend, told the panel: 'This is an old fashioned solicitor providing a good solid service to his clients and fellow professionals.

'It is a matter of deep personal regret to him that he appears before you today.'

Mr Geoghegan admitted withdrawing money out of client accounts other than permitted by solicitors rules; that his conduct and record of work was kept in such a way it was impossible for others to justify bills of costs at a later date; improperly lending funds from one client to another without keeping full and adequate records and where a conflict of interest existed or was likely; and utilising funds for his own purposes.

He denied improperly using clients' funds for the purpose of other clients.

But the panel found the lawyer guilty of that charge.

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Tribunal chairman Andrew Spooner told him: 'We felt this teetered on the edge of dishonesty. We make the finding of gross recklessness rather than that the respondent was dishonest in acting this way.'

But striking him off the Roll of Solicitors, Mr Spooner added: 'These are serious charges and we have to consider the protection of the public in such matters.

'As such the Tribunal orders Mr Geoghegan be struck off from the Roll of Solicitors.'

Mr Geoghegan was cleared of charging excessive fees and also withdrawing funds from client account over which he had control.

Published: 15.6.01 Sussex Newspapers Ltd