New hunt for solicitor who went on the run

7:41pm Friday 4th January 2008

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The fraud squad has launched a fresh hunt for a solicitor suspected of running away with his clients' cash.

David Rawlings disappeared eight years ago after he was charged with stealing more than £250,000 from his clients.

Detectives believe the then 62-year-old may have fled to Thailand and could still be hiding out in the country.

And following a review of the case last month officers from Sussex Police's major fraud unit have stepped up their inquiries to find him.

Rawlings was arrested in 2000 and charged with theft and deception offences after funds disappeared from accounts he had access to.

Police accused him of siphoning off the cash to pay debts including a spiralling tax bill and his children's public school fees.

The solicitor was released on bail but instead of appearing in court he disappeared.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "Some enquiries are dropped after a time but considering the evidence and crime involved here we are continuing the investigation of this serious crime.

"We have some new enquiries to follow which maybe productive and will continue to make inquiries until we have located Rawlings and brought him to justice.

"We would ask anyone who thinks they may have seen him or has any information about him to contact us."

Rawlings became a solicitor in 1972 and was one of three partners at D. F. Rawlings and Co, of Parkhurst Road, Bexhill, when the scandal happened.

A tribunal in 2000 heard that he was fired in October 1998 after innocent partners at the firm discovered that £259,847 was missing from client accounts.

A Law Society investigation the following month suggested that Rawlings had siphoned off the cash by making five personal payments to himself totalling £51,000 and organising improper payments and incorrect transfers.

Rawlings is accused of making 11 separate improper payments from 47 different clients, equalling more than £ 176,000 between June 1996 and June 1998. He is also accused of transferring £31,000 to his own account.

He managed to persuade the authorities to return his passport after he was charged with the theft offences and he jetted off abroad.

One distraught client issued civil proceedings against Rawlings to recover £150,000 she lost as a result of his dealings.

Rawlings was also struck off the professional roll by the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal.

Geoffrey Negus from the Solicitors Regulation Authority said cases such as this were extremely rare and he had only known around three solicitors in ten years to have embezzled cash and then gone on the run.

He said: "David Rawlings' conduct was disgraceful and he sorely let down his profession.

"It is important people such as this should be brought to justice.

"It just seems extraordinary that someone would risk his job and his life for the price of what is essentially a house. The more time he is on the run the harder they will look on the crime when he is found - as a solicitor he should know this."