Current location:Earthly Echo news portal > politics
Lawyer, 50, who paid off her tax bill with client's £132,000 divorce settlement avoids jail
Earthly Echo news portal2024-05-22 08:52:44【politics】5People have gathered around
IntroductionA lawyer who paid off her tax bill with money from ones of her clients' £132,000 divorce settlement
A lawyer who paid off her tax bill with money from ones of her clients' £132,000 divorce settlement has been spared spending time behind bars.
Victim Elena Tomsa said her life 'fell apart' after she was ripped off by Analiza Kjaer, 50, the Old Bailey in London heard.
The cash was paid to the lawyer in three lump sums and Kjaer, who was running her firm from Italy, was supposed to hand over the money to Ms Tomsa.
But instead she paid other clients and settled business debts, transferred some cash to her daughter and used it for her tax bill.
By the time regulators stepped in, half the money had vanished.
Disgraced lawyer Analiza Kjaer (pictured) used a client's £132,000 divorce settlement to pay off her tax bill, the Old Bailey heard
Kjaer, 50, was spared jail at her sentencing - instead given a two-year sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 100 hours' unpaid work
READ MORE: Solicitor who used client account as her own 'piggy bank' and transferred £48,000 to herself to splash out on a Range Rover for her boyfriend is struck off
AdvertisementThe lawyer was thrown out of the legal profession but she has now been spared jail after a judge heard she was abused by her husband and suffers from mental health problems.
Kjaer was born in the Philippines in a family of eight and studied law in the UK as a mature student.
She set up her company Able Law in offices in The Broadway in Wimbledon, south-west London, but eventually moved to Italy with her husband and daughter.
The settlement was awarded to Ms Tomsa in 2020 and early the following year she emailed Kjaer asking when she could expect the money.
Kjaer promised in February 2021 she would transfer the money - but it never materialised and the client reported her to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
SRA officials visited Able Law's office and likened it to the famously deserted 19th century ship the Mary Celeste, the Old Bailey heard.
By then Able Law's client account had a balance of just £64,461.
Kjaer was struck off in February last year and arrested for fraud when she returned to Gatwick from Italy the following month.
Her barrister Katherine Higgs said Kjaer has now been made bankrupt, was extremely remorseful and had sent the court a letter of apology.
Kjaer's husband was an unemployed gambling addict who was given a suspended sentence in Italy for half-strangling her when she tried to leave him, Miss Higgs said.
The lawyer added: 'She did this in a state of desperation because she was having to support her daughter and her husband who was not working.
Kjaer was struck off as a lawyer in February last year and has now been given a criminal sentence at the Old Bailey in London (pictured in a file photo)
READ MORE: Solicitor, 55, is struck off after using nearly £5,000 of her clients' money to buy jewellery
Advertisement'She was concerned about the consequences of not supporting her husband.'
Passing sentence, Judge Rebecca Trowler said Kjaer had promised to pay the client after her first chasing email - adding: 'However, that did not happen - and it never did happen.
'It transpired that approximately half of the money had been used by you for other purposes. Ms Tomsa to use her words, fell apart.
'It caused her great distress. She was unable to sleep, she lost weight and she had to move into her daughter's home temporarily.'
But the judge told Kjaer the crime was 'plainly committed by you out of desperation against the background of mistreatment by your husband.
'You have been struck off and therefore lost your career as a solicitor.'
The judge also spoke of Kjaer's mental health issues and problems with intense anxiety, suggesting her progress tackling these would be hindered by a jail term.
Kjaer was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years and ordered to complete 100 hours' unpaid work.
Ms Tomsa was eventually reimbursed from the legal profession's compensation fund.
Kjaer, from Bethnal Green in east London, admitted fraud by abuse of position, between 2 July 2020 and 1 June 2021.
Address of this article:http://thailand.claboston.org/news-61a299714.html
Very good!(87228)
Related articles
- The bodies of 4 men and 2 women were found strangled, piled up in Mexican resort of Acapulco
- Safety efforts urged after fatal boat accident
- China Coast Guard to conduct regular patrols in Xiamen
- Xi Says Ready to Boost Mutually Beneficial Cooperation with Liberia
- Trump visits Minnesota after son Barron's Florida high school graduation
- Xi Meets Chairman of Russian State Duma
- Xi, Uruguayan President Hold Talks, Elevate Ties to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
- Marathon world record
- French Olympic fencer Thibus says she has been cleared of any wrongdoing after abnormal doping test
- Xi Focus: Xi Calls for Giving Better Play to Constitution's Role in Governance
Popular articles
Recommended
UN maritime tribunal says countries are legally required to reduce greenhouse gas pollution
Asia's manufacturing PMI rebounds to 50.4
Adorable children danced with dragons to celebrate the Spring Festival and welcome Lantern Festival
Xinjiang's RMB cross
Election 2024: Biden and the Democrats raised far less in April than Trump and the GOP
The cultural seed bank of a civilization
The Forbidden City hosted the Tea&World
Xi to Pay State Visit to Vietnam
Links
- 1 dead, homes destroyed after tornado hits Westmoreland
- Watch where you're going! Heart
- Dozens of protesters against so
- Panicked pro
- Parma secures promotion back into Serie A after 3 seasons in Italy's second division
- Rollout of transgender bathroom law sows confusion among Utah public school families
- Royal Family jokes about the Natural History Museum's 'Rex
- 1 dead, homes destroyed after tornado hits Westmoreland
- Retired U.S. soccer star Carli Lloyd announces she and her husband are expecting baby in October
- Rollout of transgender bathroom law sows confusion among Utah public school families