Paul Devlin / SNS Group via SNS GroupA lawyer jailed for money laundering offences made a £1.7m fortune from his life of crime.
David Lyons, 74, made the cash whilst working as a solicitor for a firm called Robertson & Ross in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
At the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, Crown lawyers and representatives of Lyons agreed they are only able to recover £129,180 from Lyons.
The story emerged during a short hearing before Judge Lord Young.
Lyons, of Kilmacolm, Renfrewshire, was given seven years following proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow in January 2023.
He and two other corrupt solicitors – Alistair Blackwood, 71, and Iain Robertson, 72 – used their legal practice to launder large quantities of cash.
They were joined by Mohammed Aziz, 64, and Robert Ferguson, 70, in their criminal activities.
The five men were sentenced following a nine-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow before Judge Lord Richardson.
The trial was the culmination of a process which had been triggered by a Law Society probe into activities at the firm.
They were convicted of fraud and multiple charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Robertson, Lyons and Aziz were also convicted on charges of being involved in serious organised crime.
Prosecutors told jurors the case centred on four transactions carried out between May 2015 and July 2016.
The first transaction involved a £79,340 stolen cheque due to be paid to a law firm in Jersey.
The next centred on £240,000 from a fraudulent house sale in London.
The third transaction saw £985,000 stolen from the hacked bank account of an individual.
And the final illegal activity was uncovered after Robertson claimed to be acting for a man who wanted to sell his home in Essex.
The court heard that the “seller” was said to be staying at a flat that turned out to be Ferguson’s address.
A total of £181,786 was made from the fraudulent sale.
In each transaction, the proceeds were funnelled through the client bank account held by Robertson’s firm in Paisley, Robertson & Ross
Limited and false records were created to make them appear legitimate.
Fake papers and fake IDs – including a passport and driver’s licence – were collated in a bid to cover up the crimes.
The Law Society raised concerns about several of these transactions before alerting police to the potential illegal activity.
The trial heard that lawyer Robertson was at the heart of the money-laundering scheme since he had access to his firm’s client account.
All of the accused were given prison terms.
On Monday, Lord Young passed an order allowing the authorities to seize assets totalling £129,180 from Lyons.
Prosecutors can return to court if they identify any more of Lyons’s fortune.
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