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SFO reports sentencing of solicitor convicted of tipping off client and forgery

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Published on: 01 December 2023

Published by LNB News

LNB News 01/12/2023

Document Information

Issue Date: 01 December 2023

Published Date: 01 December 2023

Jurisdiction(s): England

Article summary

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has reported that solicitor William Osmond has been sentenced at the Old Bailey to nine months' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. Osmond has also been ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £5,000 towards the SFO’s costs. Osmond was convicted of informing his client James Redding Ramsay about the SFO’s investigation into Ramsay’s loan of £4m towards the purchase of a house and of forging a ‘letter of engagement’ about his role as solicitor around the purchase. The SFO has said that this is the first time it has prosecuted a solicitor for 'tipping off' another person about an investigation after receiving an SFO notice requesting information for a criminal investigation.

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