Two partners in a law firm have been struck off for falsifying property documents submitted to Land Registry.

Graeme Taylor and Russell Shapiro, who were heads of probate and conveyancing at London solicitors Gelbergs, both initially admitted the offences.

Shapiro later tried to backtrack and claim it was all down to Taylor, but the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal didn’t accept his new account of events.

Fictional names

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) became involved after other solicitors alerted it to the offences. Taylor was acting for the head of wealthy family, Mohammed Taj, who owned many properties in East London, when he died.

He falsified documents with fictional names as he acted for executors of the estate, and attempted to deceive the local authority.

Shapiro said he was not involved in any of the transactions, and did not submit any documents to Land Registry. He said Tayor had changed the documents to make it look as if Shapiro had submitted them.

All allegations proved

The tribunal found all allegations proved with respect to both respondents, including dishonesty, and it ordered that they each be struck off the Roll of Solicitors.

Both were experienced enough to understand the nature of their misconduct.”

“They were both partners of long standing in the firm and both were experienced enough to understand the nature of their misconduct and the consequences which flowed from them,” the tribunal said.

“Overall, the tribunal assessed their individual and collective culpability as very high, though it was to be noted that it was more likely than not that the leading figure in the enterprise had been the First Respondent [Taylor].

Dishonesty

The tribunal said “this had not been a fleeting or momentary lapse of judgment, but it had been repeated misconduct involving dishonesty”.

Taylor was ordered to pay £60,000 costs and Shapiro £10,000.

Gelbergs, which had offices in the City and Islington, has since closed down.

Read the full judgement here