A Bradford solicitor who claimed she had been threatened and forced to pay out £520,000 of clients’ money under duress was suspended from practice by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last week.

Taslim Khan, 41, of Rasool Solicitors, in Dewsbury, west Yorkshire, admitted improperly withdrawing clients’ money, failing to keep her books properly written up, and failing to fulfil undertakings to clients.

A charge of dishonesty was dropped.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority said Khan’s records were in disarray when it inspected the firm in December 2009.

The regulator discovered that Khan had made payments of £304,000 from mortgage monies forwarded to complete property deals. The final amount missing from the books was £520,813.

Dr David Rosen, who carried out the inspection, said the SRA had also called in the police because it believed files were being removed from the firm.

Three men rushed from the building when the SRA inspectors arrived, and Khan said one was ‘helping with the filing’.

Khan said threats had been made against her and her family by a different group of three men, whom she could identify only by their initials as Z, Z and A.

She said the men had forced her to make a series of payments from clients’ money.

Rosen said: ‘She appeared to be frightened and very emotional. It looked like she had not slept for some time.’

He added: ‘There were no up-to-date client ledgers. There were no bank statements at all. There was little information to actually follow these transactions through.’

Rosen said a police investigation is still continuing. ‘She said she was going to tell the police but she was too frightened,’ he added.

Khan said that at the time she made the payments she was under emotional pressure because her husband had recently left her and taken two of their children out of the country.

Tribunal chairman Roger Wolfe said: ‘This case involves strange events. Three men appear, they are alleged to have made threats as a result of which certain payments were made. There is some evidence of duress.

'We do not find that evidence altogether persuasive or conclusive.’

But Wolfe said that on the balance of probabilities the tribunal had to accept Khan’s defence of duress.

Khan was ordered to pay costs of £9,000.