Crime and key enablers

Many readers will take exception to the line that solicitors are ‘key enablers’ of organised crime. They might think the phalanx of senior civil servants and law enforcement officials who turned out for this week’s roundtable heavy handed for the very small minority of solicitors who have been wittingly or unwittingly culpable in this regard.  

And no doubt the initial and ongoing due diligence on clients and their affairs that would provide total peace of mind is disproportionate to the value of many instructions. Most lawyers, as solicitors present pointed out, do not have the resources of a bank. Few practices will spend the, presumably ‘gold standard’, figure of £30,000 looking carefully at a new client.

Yet this issue does require close attention. New Scotland Yard’s Jonathan Benton is able to relate his experience of being present for raids and arrests. Those present have teamed up with the Law Society to do practical work on this issue for a reason.

Given the pace at which scams and frauds are invented, in addition to noting alerts when issued, perhaps the best protection is to focus on the context in which legal advice is being sought. Understanding and questioning the real end goal of a transaction – its economics and its purpose – is a relatively cheap way of spotting what is suspect.