PM Law: Nearly £40m missing
The longstanding head of finance and administration (HOFA) at PM Law was involved in moving money from its client accounts and then fabricated the bank balances, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA has said.
Accountant Jonathon Howard Bostock has been disqualified from working for law firms after the SRA found him guilty of multiple breaches of the rules.
A notice published yesterday said Mr Bostock, who worked at the group between January 2013 until February 2026, was handed an order under section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007, which allows the SRA to disqualify non-solicitors working at alternative business structures (ABSs).
He was a manager of the 12 law firms making up the PM Law group, the HOFA of the six ABSs in it and the compliance officer for finance and administration for the six non-ABSs.
The SRA said: “Mr Bostock exercised senior managerial control and financial authority across the firm, including oversight of its financial controls. He led the firm’s accounts team and reported to Donald Mackay, solicitor, owner and chairman of the firm.
“On 2 February 2026 the firm notified the SRA of serious concerns around the misuse of client money which may have rendered it effectively insolvent.”
Two days later, the SRA intervened into all but one of the firms that made up group.
The regulator found four allegations against Mr Bostock proved. First that he caused, or allowed to be caused, withdrawals from PM Law client accounts which led to a client account shortage.
Second, he failed to report to the SRA that PM Law was experiencing serious financial difficulty “in consequence of the significant and worsening client account shortages”.
Third, he provided the SRA with documents and information “which he knew or ought to have known to be false and misleading”.
Finally, he “fabricated the bank balances on a number of client and office accounts operated by the firm and used these to mislead another as to the firm’s financial position”.
As a result, it would be “undesirable” for Mr Bostock to have a role in a law firm in future. He was also directed to pay costs of £1,350.
Investigations into PM Law’s solicitor managers continue but the SRA was able to act more quickly against Mr Bostock because he is not a solicitor.
In April, the SRA said its investigation into PM Law “involves a sophisticated suspected fraud”, with the improper removal and misuse of £39.5m of client funds.
The intervention is one of the largest and most complex it has ever undertaken, involving 11 companies, 25 offices and more than 30 trading names spread across Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire, Derbyshire and London.