Dear Supporters,

Thank you for backing this petition to reform the crooked Solicitor's Regulation Authority. Some 350 people have now signed, but there has been no increase for several weeks. This matter is important because it relates to legal service users compromised rights and protections in the event that they suffer financial loss due to their solicitor not providing agreed legal protection. The SRA has all but destroyed client protection, especially against solicitor fraud.

In relation to one specific fraud involving an investment in social housing via a company called Ecohouse, a solicitor firm aided and abetted a fraud rather than offering legal protection of their client's funds - a staggering £33 Million was released from the firm's client account illegitimately. Some 4 years later the victims are still seeking financial redress.

The SRA has denied compensation claims on the grounds that the solicitors did not provide a regulated legal service - something which relied entirely on them being honest. The decision by the SRA's non-impartial and non-independent panel is currently under appeal.

It is completely scandalous that the SRA would deny redress against just about the worst act of treachery that a solicitor firm could inflict on their clients. The SRA didn't strike off any of the solicitors concerned either, so they might inflict more harm on their clients in the future. It is totally irresponsible of the SRA to leave unscrupulous solicitors in the profession, not to mention unjust. The SRA did not even allege dishonesty against the solicitors despite them defrauding 850+ clients over the course of ~3 years.

Owing to sustained pressure on the SRA due to their inability to deliver appropriate justice, the SRA has decided to re-trial one of the solicitors, but still haven't alleged fraud against him or included any of the other 3 culpable solicitors in the re-trial. There is no guarantee that they will strike him off or convict him for fraud.

The solicitor concerned is a former Tory counsellor and it does raise the possibility that the Tory Government might have originally pulled some strings at the SRA to mitigate charges against him and try to get their member off the hook - so saving the Government and the Tory party some uncomfortable embarrassment regarding one of their prominent counsellors being prosecuted for fraud. It would certainly go some way to explaining why the SRA have failed to adequately prosecute the individual on 3 separate occasions now. One can only hope that the SRA might actually deliver justice at the 4th opportunity. The following article in the Stourbridge News mentions the SRA's intention to retrial him:-

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nV3WqqmVQlCs6yar4vBB0h549ncU3oqD/view?usp=drivesdk

Despite 24 MPs writing to David Gauke and to the SRA CEO, neither the SRA nor David Gauke have paid the blindest bit of notice. The Justice Select Committee have also refused to investigate the SRA despite scores of MPs writing to them with concerns about the SRA. Lord Keen continues to ignore the evidence presented about the SRA and simply states that legal service regulation in independent of Government.

Around 140 MPs who have constituents who were devastated by the Ecohouse fraud were requested to support the petition , but not a single MP has signed it. It does rather indicate that MP's are not truly supporting their constituents if they are not prepared to lobby against a crooked regulator that is failing to bring justice or redress to victims of fraud.

In the absence of sufficient support for this petition, I would be most grateful if you could share it with your family, friends and associates, or alternatively make a small contribution to Change.org to promote it. I paid £25 to promote it on day one.

Please help fight against this treachery by the SRA that the Government is turning a blind eye to - it is possible that the Government might actually be responsible for the original miscarriage of justice and also for the SRA's compromising of protection offered to legal service users.

Kind Regards,

Colin Rimmer