Legal Ethics

Attorney Jailed For Stealing From Firm To Fuel His Gambling Addiction

The firm experienced fiscal and reputational harm as a result.

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gambling gaming dice craps Las Vegas NevadaEnglish trainee solicitor, Tauseef Sadeeq, pleaded guilty to 20 counts of fraud involving insurance compensation. Sadeeq’s scheme had insurers pay client funds into his own personal account — to the tune of over £100,000.

Sadeeq was on a training contract at personal injury law firm Jacob Miller Solicitors, after previously working there as a paralegal. The scheme lasted from February 2020 and March 2021, and Sadeeq used the stolen funds to pay off gambling debts. When confronted by firm leaders in March 2021, Sadeeq admitted to stealing the money and paid back £7,000 of the funds.

Though Sadeeq was fired from the firm at that time, there was still a tremendous financial impact on Jacob Miller Solicitors, as reported by Legal Cheek:

The trainee’s actions had a devastating financial impact on the firm, which had to make eight of its 24 staff redundant. This was in addition to what firm director Hasib Khan described as the “crippling losses” it had already suffered as a result of the pandemic.

The prosecutor in the case, Colin Buckle, elaborated:

Buckle said: “Mr Khan notes how the case concerning the defendant has been widely reported and that the reputation of the firm has been damaged. A number of clients of the firm who became aware of the defendant’s actions removed their business and instructed new solicitors.”

“Mr Khan also notes that obtaining new business has been difficult due to the impact upon the reputation of both the firm and himself as a solicitor,” Buckle added.

Sadeeq’s defense attorney, Oliver Jarvis, noted his client was “deeply ashamed and deeply remorseful” of his actions:

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“He has thrown away his career and ripped his family apart,” Jarvis said. “He developed a gambling habit, built up debt and desperately tried to chase the money he had lost. With the help of his family he had finally stopped gambling.”

Judge Martin Walsh said the crimes constituted a “considerable and gross breach of trust,” adding, “This was a concerted fraud, calculated and unsophisticated, but pursued over a period of time. The consequences of the fraud were considerable. Not only was there a fiscal loss, but the firm also suffered reputational damage.” Sadeeq was handed a two-year prison sentence.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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