Ex-solicitor jailed for taking £2m client money

A former solicitor who defrauded clients of almost £2m to chase a supposed lottery win has been jailed.

Hugh Lansdell, 74, was sentenced on Friday to four years’ imprisonment at Norwich Crown Court after admitting to committing fraud by abuse of position.

Lansdell, a partner with Norfolk firm Hansells for more than 27 years, was struck off the roll by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2019.

The court heard that in April 2015, Lansdell was led to believe he had won a postcode lottery in Spain and that he needed to make ever-increasing payment to release the funds promised to him. This was a scam and there was no win, but Lansdell exhausted his and his wife’s money to make these payments to the lottery scheme.

He then began taking money from client accounts, and between August 2015 and July 2017, Lansdell was responsible for making 72 transactions worth a total value of £1.96m.

This affected 29 client accounts: six payments were also made from investment portfolios held by trusts in his control, and further payments made from personal bank accounts of clients where he had lasting power of attorney.

The firm raised concerns and Lansdell initially said the money had been invested before admitting he was using it for a lottery scheme.

Emma Beazley, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: ‘After falling victim to a scam himself, Hugh Lansdell exploited his significant position of trust as a senior partner to take an extraordinary amount of money from clients.’

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