by Iain Maciver
AN allegation of fraud made against a solicitor in the Western Isles is set to land on the desk of Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill after claims that island police have so far failed to investigate it properly.
According to a series of complaints to police and to legal watchdogs, documents have been discovered which allegedly show solicitor Kathleen Maciver made out she was acting for a man who never hired her in order to get confidential financial information about him.
However, the boss of the law firm she works for has strenuously denied the allegation and has said the “ambiguous” letters were due to a clerical error.
Complainer Anthony Thompson, 42, says that several businesses in the islands and around Scotland were hoodwinked to disclose details of his financial transactions by the solicitor wrongfully claiming he was her client.
The former tar spreader, of Shawbost, said he found out by accident that his estranged partner’s solicitor had written to various suppliers asking for invoices and receipts for work they had done for him.
He said: “Every supplier who received these letters from her believed they were from a solicitor working on my behalf. Her letters had my name and address in the heading and they also refer to me as “our client”. There is no doubt about it. She was trying to mislead them into thinking she had authority to get financial information about me.
“What she failed to tell these firms was that she was actually working for my former partner and I believe this solicitor was using underhand methods to get information to ensure a financial advantage to my ex-partner. Yes, I believe that should be classified as fraud.”
His complaints about the solicitor’s conduct to Ken Macdonald & Co., the firm that Ms Maciver works for in Stornoway, have not satisfied him either as he says they not only failed to apologise to him but have tried shifting the blame onto a lowly secretary.
“Ken Macdonald himself told me my complaint would go no further. He blamed a secretary. There is no apology from him or Ms Maciver or any acceptance of responsibility which I think is absolutely disgraceful.”
The solicitor’s letters have damaged his own legal fight over property with his ex-partner, he says.
“These firms say they have already spent valuable time dealing with requests by Kathleen Maciver when she was claiming to be my solicitor and they just don’t want to get involved in a legal wrangle. I am now struggling because of her deception. I am determined to take this further.”
Anthony Thompson said he was bitterly disappointed at the failure of Stornoway police to begin a formal investigation or even take statements from the suppliers and he said he was concerned that was because Ms Maciver’s husband is the local procurator fiscal – the person who decides which cases to take to court.
The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, which takes complaints for all Scotland’s legal watchdogs, said it could not confirm nor comment on whether allegations had been made against any solicitors but Northern Constabulary confirmed an investigation by the regulators had begun.
A police spokeswoman said inquiries had been made into the complaint and that “specialist legal advice” had been sought by police. She added: “At this stage, the allegation has not been found to constitute a fraud. However, enquiries in relation to aspects of the allegation are ongoing and the matter is subject to an internal investigation by the Law Society and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) …” She declined to comment on Mr Thompson’s concern that the police were slow to act as Ms Maciver is the wife of the fiscal.
In a statement, law firm boss Kenneth Macdonald said Ms Maciver had specifically asked her secretary not to forward the letters to the suppliers until she returned from holiday to authorise them. He said: “Unfortunately, the letters, without Ms Maciver’s authority, were signed by the secretary and sent out. The secretary took the name off the heading of the invoice, so if Mr Thompson’s name was on the invoice then the letter was sent out with his name; if our client’s name was on the invoice then the letter was sent out with her name; if there was no name on the invoice then the letter was sent out without any name.
“Quite clearly it was a simple clerical error. I accept that the letters may have been ambiguous and I have written to all the contractors pointing out for whom we are acting.”
Mr Macdonald said the information about Anthony Thompson’s financial transactions was already in the firm’s possession since last year. He added: “I therefore cannot understand the point Mr Thompson is attempting to make. The main error appears to have been that instead of putting our client’s name as well as Mr Thompson’s name on the heading, the secretary appears to have just taken the heading from the invoices. It is as simple as that.
“I am perfectly satisfied that Ms MacIver did not make any attempt to mislead anyone.”
Mr Macdonald’s statement was dismissed by Anthony Thompson as “a whitewash”. He said it did not explain why there were several weeks between the letters being sent out to suppliers which confirmed, in his view, that it was not a mere secretary’s mistake, as Mr Macdonald said.
Frustrated that police have so far failed to take statements from the firms contacted by Ms Maciver, Anthony has been asking for help from various politicians.
Rhoda Grant, the Highlands and Islands MSP, has now promised she will take action to make sure his complaints to police are properly investigated and said she would now take them directly to Chief Constable George Graham and also to Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill.
