A paralegal who dishonestly obtained ‘substantial’ sums of money for herself and her sister has been banned from working in a legal practice without the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s prior approval.
Amina Begum, also known as Amina Miah, worked in the private client department of the now-closed Bourne Harris LLP, based in Kings Norton. She worked on a probate file until her employment was terminated in January 2020.
While working on that file, Begum created a backdated letter, amended completed estate accounts to include a payment of £12,945.50 to her sister and authorised the payment without a legitimate invoice.
The SRA said the letter, which was dishonestly dated, falsely suggested her sister was owed the sum for services rendered. She arranged the payment into her sister’s bank account from client money held by the firm, creating a shortfall in the client account.
On the same file, Begum wrote to Clerical Medical with a payment instruction that the company pay £19,812.21 due to the estate into her bank account and not the firm’s.
She gave the impression her bank account belonged to Bourne Harris and fabricated the signatures of the two executors of the estate to give the appearance that the payment instructions were authorised by them when it was not.
The regulator said: ‘Ms Begum’s conduct was serious. She has been found to have been dishonest on several occasions to obtain, by deception, substantial sums of money either for her sister or herself that belonged to the estate of a client of Bourne Harris.
‘It is undesirable for Ms Begum to be involved in a legal practice without the SRA’s prior written consent.’ As well as the section 43 order, Begum was ordered to pay £200, a proportion of the SRA’s costs.
