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Solicitor handed 15-year bankruptcy restriction after £9m loss
Wednesday 16th June 2010A solicitor whose corrupt dealings led his employers into administration has signed a bankruptcy restricting order, stopping him from practicing for 15 years.
Jonathan Gilbert, a conveyancing solicitor from Berkshire, signed the restricting order after causing a £9m loss to his creditors. In signing the agreement Mr Gilbert agreed he had abused the trust of his clients and ‘breached his duties as a practising solicitor’ leading to debts of at least £9million.
Mr Gilbert was employed at Wilmett Solicitors, a Windsor-based firm established in 1946. The company went into administration in December 2009 after losing a £1.35 million negligence claim made against them by Thames Valley Housing Association (TVHA). It is thought 60 jobs across the firm’s four offices were lost as a result.
The case centred around Mr Gilbert who deliberately misled his colleagues and brought their firm down in doing so. According to the Royal Borough Observer who reported on the case at the time, the firm’s demise centred around “former partner, Jonathan Gilbert, who worked from Woodley and went missing after he had acted for Guernsey-based Elegant Homes on a development site in Bray.”
The developers (Elegant Homes) had secured a £6million loan from the Bank of Scotland and used the land as a form of security. They then went on to sell two plots on the site to Thames Valley Housing Association (TVHA) for £975,000 and Willmett gave undertakings that the charges relating to the plots being used as security would be removed.
However, as reported by the Royal Borough Observer, Mr Gilbert transferred ownership to Elegant Homes without removing the charge. The housing association sued Elegant Homes and Willmett for negligence and won its case.
Ruling on the case held at the High Court, Mr Justice Mann said: "The associations (both divisions of TVHA) are innocent in this matter. It is Willmetts who are at fault. One does, of course, have sympathy with the other partners in Willmett who seem, prime facie, to have been let down by Mr Gilbert, but there is no reason why the associations should be saddled with the consequences of that."
According to the report published by the Insolvency Service last week, Mr Gilbert, who was declared bankrupt in June 2009, had assets of £144,145.00. The report stated: “The major claims against Mr Gilbert related to the receipt and disposal of funds received from a mortgage lender for approximately £4million, and a claim from Willmetts Solicitors, Mr Gilberts previous employers (now in administration), for almost £5million.”
Mr David Gordon the Official Receiver at Cardiff said: “The fact Mr Gilbert has agreed to a 15-year bankruptcy restrictions order, the maximum time available, should reassure the public that when bankrupts are found to have acted against the public interest, and in this case abused their professional position The Insolvency Service will take action to impose sanctions against them.”
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