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SRA shuts down firm run by ex-Labour mayor

Britain’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has shut down a law firm run by two solicitors – one of whom is a British Labour councillor and former mayor of a London borough.

Suspended practising certificates

The SRA said that it had closed Hounslow, west London-based SZ Solicitors Limited, an immigration specialist, and suspended the practising certificates of managers Raghwinder Singh Siddhu and Mohammad Saeed Zafar. 

Siddhu serves as Labour councillor for Bedfont in the London Borough of Hounslow and was mayor of Hounslow in 2022. 

The SRA said in its intervention notices that the pair failed to comply with the regulator’s code of conduct for firms, with reason to suspect dishonesty.

The England and Wales Gazette approached Zafar, who said that SZ Solicitors was a small high street firm and questioned why the regulator visited the firm seven times in 17 years.

 “There was no client complaint, no loss to clients' money; only a dispute with HM Revenue & Customs gave SRA opportunity to step in,” Zafar said.