A Co Antrim solicitor who defrauded clients out of £120,000 to pay his bills has narrowly avoided going to prison.
Michael John Glover (55), of Ballymartin Road, Templepatrick, was handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years after he pleaded guilty to 29 counts of fraud by abuse of his position and one of forging documents.
Belfast Crown Court heard that in February 2015 a compliance officer from the Law Society NI carried an inspection of his Glover & King law firm files.
Prosecution lawyer David McNeill said the compliance officer “noted a number of suspicious transactions’'. He returned the following month and discovered more suspicious transactions and issued a list of questions which he required answers to.
Glover subsequently returned his responses which were supported by a number of documents.
“Three of these documents were forgeries, including a letter from a person who was to be the beneficiary of £50,000 from a will,’’ said Mr McNeill.
“The money was used by the defendant. The compliance officer reported his findings to the Law Society. The defendant later faxed a letter to the Law Society saying he had borrowed £50,000 to help pay for several bills.’’
At a further meeting with the compliance officer, Glover admitted forging the letters and said this was the only case in which he had used client funds.
“However, the compliance officer continued to investigate and found further suspicious transactions,’’ said the prosecutor.
“On June 3, 2015, the defendant’s certificate to practice was suspended. Further investigations revealed a number of frauds involving £120,334 involving 11 clients and spanning a four to five year period.’’
The court heard Glover’s wife, who now runs Glover & King, had repaid the £120,000 owed to the clients in September 2015 along with £40,000 to cover the Law Society investigation into their practice.
Judge Gordon Kerr KC said the defendant was of previous good character and has barred himself from any similar employment in the future.
Citing the aggravating factors, the judge said the “breach of trust was high due to his position as a solicitor’', the frauds took place over an extended period and there were 29 fraudulent transactions’'.
“The money was used for his benefit on his house, on servicing loans and even on electricity bills. It is clear the victims would have felt the effects of the breach, the impact of their solicitor being dishonest with client funds and the public trust in the legal profession is clear and obvious.”
But the judge said that given all the monies had been reimbursed, the delay in bringing the case to court with the effects that had on the defendant and his family, he was imposing a suspended sentence.