Asolicitor who paid off a mortgage using proceeds from his brother’s drug dealing has been banned from the profession. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that Paul Simon Green, admitted on 2 January 2008, had bought a property in 2010 which was registered in his name, with all mortgage payments to be made by him.

But the mortgage application had included false information because it did not disclose that Green’s brother James would be contributing to the purchase, making mortgage repayments and living in the property. The money came from the proceeds of James Green’s illegal drug dealing, the tribunal heard.

Over the next five years, James Green made 62 cash payments to his brother’s bank account, coming to almost £50,000.

In 2019 Paul Green notified the Solicitors Regulation Authority he had been interviewed by Hampshire Police on suspicion of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and money laundering. In May 2024, he was convicted at Southampton Crown Court of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and converting criminal property, namely money. Paul Green was sentenced to 26 months’ imprisonment.