SOLICITOR WINS HEDGE FUND PROBE BATTLE
Sunday Mail A solicitor has won a court battle to prevent a watchdog probe into his alleged links to a £400million hedge fund that went bust.
The Scot t ish Lega l Complaints Commission wanted to investigate Frank Cannon after receiving a police report which claimed he was involved in Heather Capital transactions.
But the 79-year-old argued at Edinburgh’s Court of Session that the SLCC had no power to start an inquiry because a grievance had not been submitted.
Now judge Lord Brailsford has ruled the body acted contrary to the rules of natural justice in making a complaint in its own name.
In his judgment, Lord Brailsford said: “The SLCC cannot receive a complaint which is self-generated.”
Sol icitor Greg King launched Heather Capital in 2005 and attracted investors to fund property deals. It col lapsed in 2010 and backers’ cash disappeared.
Police launched a fraud probe into Heather Capital in 2013, which resulted in King, of Newton Mearns, Glasgow, and three men being reported to the Crown Office before the case was dropped in 2018.
Liquidator Paul Duffy alleged millions of pounds had passed through the client account of Frank Cannon at the Court of Session in 2015.
Ca n n o n said t he allegations were “rubbish”. He added: “I never acted for Heather Capital at any time. As a firm of lawyers, we gave statements to the Crown Office and that was the sum total of our involvement until this SLCC thing arose.
“There was no suggestion of improper conduct and there’s no basis for any complaint.”
Cannon, whose f irm Cannon’s Law is based in Glasgow’s west end, added: “The SLCC were completely in the wrong. It was a pointless exercise. Dragging al l this up has cost the taxpayer £ 50,000 in legal fees and court costs.”
Chief executive of the SLCC Neil Stevenson said: “We are concerned this decision leaves a situation whereby it is unclear how ser ious al legat ions of misconduct against lawyers can be considered if no individual or organisation is prepared to make a complaint.”