Imperial Consolidated solicitor thrown out of profession

The solicitor who acted for Lincoln Fraser and Jared Brook, the disgraced bosses of the collapsed Imperial Consolidated, has been struck off by the Law Society.

A disciplinary tribunal heard more than a dozen charges brought against Michael John Harvey, 43, relating to his legal work on behalf of the UK-based offshore finance group. Mr Harvey had denied all the charges.

The Law Society closed down his practice in December 2001 after questions had been raised about his professional conduct.

As reported by The Independent on Sunday two months ago, Mr Harvey appealed to the High Court claiming that his human rights had been breached by the Law Society's intervention.

In court, the society said that Mr Harvey had been actively involved in various dishonest schemes run by Mr Fraser and Mr Brook. The judge dismissed his appeal, calling Mr Fraser and Mr Brook "greedy and unscru- pulous". After a two-day hearing in London last week, the tribunal dismissed only two charges and found Mr Harvey guilty of all the others. They said he had shown "an underlying lack of honesty and a complete lack of objectivity". He is required to pay £15,000 in costs.

Mr Harvey apparently met Mr Fraser and Mr Brook when the two men were managing the Midland Hotel in Morecambe in 1994. He was running a practice in Luton.

The charges made in the tribunal showed Mr Harvey had acted improperly in handling Mr Fraser and Mr Brook's subsequent and myriad business schemes, including Imperial Consolidated, which went into administration in June 2002 owing investors £200m.

The Serious Fraud Office and other authorities are currently investigating the collapse of Imperial Consolidated.

At the tribunal, Mr Harvey denied all the charges and conducted his own defence. Peter Cadman of Russell Coates represented the Law Society. Mr Cadman said after the hearing; "It is clear the striking off is fully justified by the evidence."

In 1998, after a shortfall of £3,000 in a firm's client accounts, Mr Harvey and a colleague, Michael Mendoza, were brought before the disciplinary hearing.

Mr Mendoza was struck off and Mr Harvey fined £3,000 in 2000.