The Solicitors Regulation Authority is seeking an order to become a creditor in ex-Axiom Ince boss Pragnesh Modhwadia’s bankruptcy, it has emerged.
In a disposal hearing before Master Clark in the Royal Courts of Justice today, the SRA sought an order to be added as a creditor in Modhwadia’s bankruptcy in relation to Axiom Ince’s insolvency. The application was stayed until the bankruptcy trustee has been notified of the claim and given an opportunity to take part.
Rejecting the SRA’s argument that the trustee will not be interested in the SRA’s participation, Master Clark added: ‘It does seem to me that is not for your side to say [if the trustee will be interested], that is for the trustee to decide whether or not they want to [take part].’
The SRA said it did not want, and was not seeking, to have the trustee joined as a party to the proceedings.
An order was made on the SRA to notify the trustees of the claim, the evidence filed, and a ‘letter asking the trustee whether they wish to be joined to the claim for the purposes of challenging liability…defending the claim or seeking a stay of the claim under section 285 of the insolvency act 1986’.
According to the order, the trustee will be given until 31 January to respond and then the SRA can seek a relisting of the disposal hearing.
A bankruptcy order was made against Modhwadia in May 2024. He was suspended by the SRA in August 2023 on suspicion of dishonesty and Axiom Ince was closed on 3 October 2023.
Separately from the intervention, Neil Bennett, Alex Cadwallader and Andrew Poxon of insolvency firm Leonard Cutris were appointed as joint administrators of Axiom Ince on 26 October 2023.
The SRA is seeking an order to join other creditors in Modhwadia’s bankruptcy in relation to the firm’s insolvency for the recovery of the SRA’s ongoing costs of intervention into Axiom’s practice incurred since the decision to intervene.
The regulator’s compensation fund made a loss of £29.1m in 2023 due to the costs of the interventions of Axiom Ince, Metamorph and others.
