Solicitor struck off on day of prison sentence

A solicitor jailed earlier this month for defrauding clients of £1.7m has been struck off the roll, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal revealed today. Christopher Michael Bilmes, admitted in 2004, was sentenced to 56 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal dealt with Bilmes’ case on the day of his sentencing at Hove Crown Court.

The allegations against Bilmes, one of two members of Bilmes LLP, included allowing a cash shortage of £1,767,322.15 to occur on the firm’s client account and failing to remedy the shortage; improperly withdrawing or allowing to be withdrawn the minimum sum of £1,316,146; failing to keep accounting records and making statements to HM Revenue & Customs about stamp duty land tax which were untrue and which he knew or ought to have known were untrue. 

Blimes, 45, admitted all the charges at the tribunal. The proposed sanction was that Bilmes be struck off the roll.

The SDT judgment said the tribunal was ‘satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Mr Bilmes’ admissions were properly made with respect to each allegation, including dishonesty’.

It added: ‘Having regard to the seriousness of the admitted misconduct the tribunal was satisfied with the sanction proposed by the parties which it considered was appropriate and proportionate to protect public confidence in the profession and to protect the public against the risk of further harm. The serious circumstances of this case in which there had been a very substantial shortfall on the client account and 5 admitted allegations of dishonesty required no lesser sanction than strike off.’

The SDT also ordered Bilmes to pay costs of £18,600.