Lawyers – do your due diligence!
It is always very important for lawyers to do appropriate client due diligence checks. The article below involves a lawyer, who is said not to have done this, on a £1+ million property transaction. He allegedly failed to check that the image on the passport of the client and the photo on the resident’s permit, matched that of his client, who was sitting in front of him. Unfortunately in this case the ID was fake.
The article can be found at the following address: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/model-persuaded-mother-to-join-her-in-1-2m-fraud-0pb5q8pz6
As Lennons’ Compliance Director, Jenny Russell, comments, “We really appreciate our clients, at an early stage, providing us with the requested identification documentation, usually a valid passport or photo driving licence and proof of address, plus where appropriate proof of funds, to enable us to carry out these essential client due diligence checks. Clients may spot us, giving them a second look, checking that they do look like their photo ID!”