Belfast solicitor sentenced over defrauding of deceased clients’ estates

https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/belfast-solicitor-sentenced-over-defrauding-30381543

A former solicitor who admitted defrauding the estates of three deceased clients was spared jail today (Friday).

Gerald Henvey overcharged his professional fees, failed to pay money to charities which was specified in wills and ploughed the de-frauded funds into his solicitors’ firm.

From Cranmore Gardens in South Belfast, Henvey was handed a two-year sentence which was suspended for two years by Judge Philip Gilpin. Belfast Crown Court heard that the 68-year grandfather has paid back all the money he de-frauded, which amounted to between £79,140 and £84,150. His offending occurred against the estates of three female clients over a period from October 2007 to July 2012.

Henvey admitted that on all three occasions, as a solicitor he dishonestly abused his position by overcharging professional fees with the intention of making a gain for himself or causing a loss to the estates of his clients. The father-of-four also admitted that on October 8, 2008, he paid the brother of one of his deceased clients ‘without authority’.

The court heard the offending first emerged in January 2013 following a routine inspection of Henvey Solicitors by an accountant from the Law Society. The accountant examined client ledgers and bank accounts and a number of financial anomalies were discovered.

This led to a further investigation into the firm’s financial affairs which indicated Henvey had been overcharging professional fees in relation to a number of probate files.

Regarding one deceased client, the ‘residue’ of her estate was to be split equally between a number of charities – none of whom had received any money at the time of the Law Society inspection in 2013. The inspection revealed Henvey had overcharged her estate and had also paid the deceased woman’s brother £11,500 ‘without authority’.

A second client’s estate – which was also overcharged – set out a number of specific legacies to be split between family members and five charities. Whilst money was subsequently distributed to family members, the residue meant for the charities was not paid.

The will of a third client stated that she left her home to her brother and ordered that when he died, the property was to be sold and the proceeds of that sale donated to charity. The property was sold and the estate was overcharged.

Due to his offending, Henvey was struck off as a solicitor in November 2015 and following a detailed investigation involving the Law Society and the PSNI, Henvey was interviewed by police in July, 2023. He told officers that during the economic crisis in 2007/08, his solicitor’s firm experienced a ‘downward spiral’. Henvey said that during this period, he didn’t want to cut staff wages or make redundancies.

He also accepted to police that during the period of offending, he had overcharged professional fees in relation to the three estates in a bid to shore up his own business.

The money that should have been given to the charities was initially paid by the Law Society’s Compensation Fund but these funds were eventually re-paid back to the Law Society by Henvey when he closed his practice. A Crown barrister told Judge Gilpin that as a result “there is no financial loss at this stage to anyone”.

A defence barrister said Henvey was “filled with remorse” regarding his actions and revealed there has been no further offending. Pointing out that Henvey made “full and frank admissions at an early stage” to police, the barrister said also raised the issue of delay in the case as well as the impact the proceedings have had both on Henvey and his family.

In addition, Henvey’s barrister said that a number of references submitted to the court spoke of the many contributions he has made in his life to the community, to clients and to colleagues.

Prior to passing sentence for four counts of fraud by abuse of position, Judge Gilpin told Henvey: “You were a solicitor and as such a high degree of trust was placed on you by the public at the time of your offending. I also note that your offending has caused a destruction of your career and of your reputation, albeit that is entirely self-inflicted.”

Judge Gilpin also spoke of several ‘exceptional’ circumstances linked to the case. This, he said, included the delay as today’s sentence hearing was “11 years after the matters first came to light”.

Judge Gilpin said he had also considered the downturn in Henvey’s mental health due to his offending, the fact he had reimbursed all the money he de-frauded and his expressions of remorse. Imposing the suspended sentence, Judge Gilpin warned Henvey of the consequences should be re-offend over the next two years.