An experienced solicitor who had his client pay fees into his personal bank account and then tried to claim it was all an error has been struck off the roll.

Mandeep Sunny Singh Thandi was a director at County Durham firm Kenneth M Barrow and Co when he was instructed to represent a criminal client. She had not qualified for legal aid and was paying privately, so she requested the firm’s bank details.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that Thandi, a solicitor since 2014, agreed fees of £6,000 with the client and provided his own bank details.

He did not ensure the matter was opened on the firm’s management or finance systems as would usually happen. Instead, the client proceeded to transfer £5,510 over four payments and Thandi retained this money.

The solicitor, 40, even paid counsel’s fees from his own bank account to conceal his conduct from his firm and keep the client’s instructions ‘off the books’.

It was only when another solicitor representing the client contacted the firm to say she had paid into Thandi’s own account that the true picture emerged.

During an interview with the firm’s owner, Thandi tried to claim he provided his own bank account details and received money from the client in error.

He was suspended from the firm and subsequently resigned in March 2024. The firm refunded the money to the client and deducted the sum from a payment due to Thandi as part of a consultancy agreement.

Thandi and the Solicitors Regulation Authority agreed a joint outcome whereby he admitted dishonesty and would be struck off. In non-agreed mitigation, he claimed to have been experiencing significant personal difficulties at the time of the misconduct and said this had been an isolated incident.

The SDT agreed with the outcome, including that Thandi should pay £23,000 costs.

The tribunal added: ‘He knew or ought reasonably to have known that his conduct was in material breach of his obligations to protect the public and reputation of the profession.

‘He attempted to conceal his wrongdoing on more than one occasion. The misconduct was deliberate, repeated, committed for a prolonged period, over several months.’

Please note: Anonymous comments will no longer be permitted on this site from 1 June. Please see our revised site terms here