Solicitors in a £1m fraud investigation are facing jail after they admitted siphoning cash from their clients’ accounts to pay their overheads.
They were arrested and saw their practice closed following a 12-month fraud operation in which they conned their clients.
The 65 and 53 year old senior partners at Hunt Kidd LLP in Newcastle, were accused of taking cash from clients of the firm between October 2008 and October 2009.
They were charged with fraud last year. Hunt Kidd Solicitors was closed down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in November 2009 after an investigation was launched into “suspected financial irregularities” involving two of its senior partners.
Now, more than two years after officers raided their premises on Pilgrim Street in Newcastle, Gayton and Hunt have appeared in court, where they admitted the con.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “Gayton and Hunt were charged in January 2011 with fraud by abuse of position in relation to the theft of £1,049,103 from clients of Hunt Kidd solicitors in Newcastle.”
The pair both pleaded guilty and are due to be sentenced at Durham Crown Court later this month.
For further information visit the Northumbria Police website.
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