Jailed lawyer barred from returning to industry

Thursday 21 November 2019

A former lawyer, who was jailed for using around £100,000 of client cash to plug holes in his ailing firm, has been banned from ever working in legal or financial services again.

The order against Kevin Manning (63) was handed down yesterday by the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), who said he had “demonstrated a lack of integrity."

The ex-solicitor of 15 years was imprisoned for three-and-a-half years last December by the Royal Court after admitting 22 counts of dishonestly moving around client money. 

Pictured: Mr Manning was sentenced in the Royal Court last December.

Though recognising that an “ashamed and broken” Mr Manning had committed the fraud during a period of intense personal and professional difficulty, the Court deemed his offending to have been aggravated by the fact that many of his clients were individuals incapable of managing their own affairs.

One was a charitable trust.

These factors formed a significant part of the JFSC’s consideration following a separate conduct investigation into whether Mr Manning should be ousted from the financial and legal industry, which concluded yesterday. 

A report on the matter noted: “The fraudulent conversion offences included a number of occasions on which money was transferred from curatorships where he had been appointed as Curator to the interdicts in question. Mr Manning’s conduct in this respect was dishonest and a significant breach of trust, made more egregious by the vulnerable nature of the interdicts in respect of Mr Manning’s position of Curator.” 

Pictured: Mr Manning was sentenced to over three years in jail.

JFSC officials have now decided that it is “not appropriate for Mr Manning to work in any capacity” in any business providing legal, accountancy, real estate or lending services. 

The former lawyer has also been branded “not fit and proper to work in any capacity” for any business regulated by the JFSC.

If his does not abide by the work ban upon his release from jail, Mr Manning will have committed an offence under the Supervisory Bodies Law.

In addition, the ruling stated that “any person who allows Mr Manning to perform a function, engage in employment or hold a position knowing that such performance, engagement or holding is in contravention of the directions shall be guilty of an offence.”

The ban comes after Mr Manning was stripped of his pension following a Royal Court ruling in May. 

The sum was them paid into the Law Society Client Protection Fund, which ensures that any individual that suffers loss in relation to funds held on a client account as a result of dishonesty can be reclaimed.