Axiom Ince: Former boss of disgraced law firm faces bankruptcy petition
The former boss of disgraced law firm Axiom Ince, where over £60m of client money went missing, now faces a bankruptcy petition.
Former lawyer Pragnesh Modhwadia has been named as a debtor in a bankruptcy petition filed to the High Court last Friday.
Modhwadia used to be the boss of Axiom Ince, formally known as Axiom DWFM, until the firm collapsed last year and caused a fallout in the legal market.
He came into the limelight after the acquisition of Ince Group from administration. Ince was a well-known legal provider in the market, and was previously known as Ince Gordon Dadds before it was listed on the AIM market.
Not long after he acquired Ince, the legal regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), intervened and suspended him and other lawyers over misusing client money. The board of directors at Axiom Ince went on to ask the courts to freeze the funds Modhwadia had taken.
Morning Wire has a more detailed feature on the fallout of Axiom Ince here.
The fallout of the scandal of the firm saw it collapse last October. A month later, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launched an investigation into fraud at the collapse of law firm Axiom Ince. The SFO also arrested seven individuals and carried out multiple raids last year.
Speaking at the time, the then newly appointed SFO director, Nick Ephgrave, said: “There are a number of significant questions that need to be answered: clients from this law firm are missing many millions of pounds and more than 1,400 of its staff have lost their jobs.”
There was fallout in the market as there was speculation over a potential increase to the annual levy solicitors pay to the regulator in order to cover the cost of the collapse of Axiom.
Modhwadia’s headaches have yet to stop as the bankruptcy petition launched against him was by the administrators of IGD Realisations, IGD Services Realisations and IGD Holdings Realisations. All of these companies were formally known as Ince Gordon Dadds.
According to an administrator’s progress report published last November on IGD Realisations, of the total £2.2m agreed by Axiom, there was an outstanding £1m to be paid.