Peter Lodge

On the 16th of April 2021 our Solicitor went to the Bank of Cyprus in Larnaca and transferred our life’s savings of 47,838.00 Euros to a Lloyds bank account in London, which not only did not belong to us, but was not or never had been in our name, our Larnaca Solicitor stated that at the last minute he received an email that he thought was from us changing the bank account details, but never bothered to check. Since then we have gone round in circles.
The Cypriot law society said in their opinion he done nothing wrong? The Solicitor's insurance said that he is not insured for cyber crime and neither banks will talk to us because we are not their customers.
The Lawyer refuses to accept any responsibility and also will not return the 1500.00 euro fee that he charged for his services.
We contacted another Solicitor in Cyprus and he said that our former Solicitor knows full well it will cost us more than we have lost to fight the case in a Cypriot court, bearing in mind almost all the Solicitors in Cyprus belong to the same club.
Does anyone have any ideas please.

calman014

He probably just orderedt himself a new Mercedes...??

How did you issue instructions of your Bank Account? Was it written on a document physically given or posted to your so called Solicitor?
Did you send the details by e-mail?
I presume you gave him an IBAN number and Swift/Bic code for your bank?
The 'not insured' excuse does not sound correct in any case, they are trying to fob you off.

You need to find a lawyer and get them to demand the information of the booking from Bank of Cyprus with evidence that your solicitor transferred the money, along with his signature on the transfer document and to which bank account in UK.

The lawyer can also demand a copy of the e-mail (including so-called 'header' information) which will show where the e-mail came from.

If he is unable to provide both of these, you should sue him for theft of your money.

Peter Lodge

Still trying to find a Lawyer who will take on the case, evidently one was highly successful in this area from Nicosia but so far cannot find him.

EU.flag

OP is wasting time chasing solicitor. This is clearly bank fraud, so issue must be chased with bank.
Post doesnt make it clear where money was sent from, lawyer's holding account or OP own account. Either way, issue must be chased through sending bank.

philat98

The lawyer shouldn't have sent the money to an account with a different name without checking first. How did the fraudsters know that the money would be transferred? Either from the lawyer or the bank. Setting lawyers on lawyers costs another€50k.

Peter Lodge

Our money was sent from the Lawyers account to a fraudulent account number, but with our name on the paying in slip, the Lawyer states that just before the transaction he received an email from us changing the account number, he knows that the bank won’t talk to us, knows we can’t afford to take him to court, and refuses not only to accept his part in the play, but also refuses to pay back the 1500.00 Euros that he took to make our money disappear.

Peter Lodge

Neither of the banks will talk to us because we are not their customers, and he knows full well that we can’t afford to take him to court, he has even refused to pay back his fee for making our money disappear.

EU.flag

Then from technical point, issue is simple. Layers were holding client money and they lost it due to fraud.
In that case, lawyers are responsible for loss. Are there any no-win-no-fee companies in Cyprus?
https://www.injuryclaims.com.cy/en/no-win-no-fee.asp

philat98

Isnt it simply theft. Why not go to the police?

Finknottle

As regards Lloyds in London, how about the UK banking ombudsman - at least they might persuade the bank to talk to you.

Peter Lodge

He is very clever and slippery, he knows we can’t afford to take him to court, and so far everyone we have asked to help us has just turned their back, apart from the Cypriot ombudsman, who said that the fault did not lie with us, but the solicitor and the bank, neither of whom accept responsibility?

Peter Lodge

Tried the English ombudsman and they will not get involved because the money was sent from Cyprus, the Cypriot ombudsman said that the fault lies with the solicitor and the bank, but again they won’t help us.

Peter Lodge

British police have said that its out of their jurisdiction, and the police in Cyprus so far have not helped us or replied to our emails.

Peter Lodge

The Lawyer who made the money disappear is well aware that we can’t afford to take him to court, we are going round in circles, which is now taking its toll on our health, but when we go on his Facebook page he is all happy and smug 😡

spouse of scouse

Do you think it would help to talk with the media, either there or in the UK?