Partner at UK's Carter-Ruck faces misconduct case over OneCoin lawsuit threat

By Sam Tobin

LONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - A partner at Carter-Ruck, a well-known London law firm, is facing disciplinary proceedings for allegedly making an improper legal threat on behalf of fraudulent cryptocurrency business OneCoin and its fugitive founder Ruja Ignatova.

Claire Gill, a solicitor at Carter-Ruck specialising in defamation, privacy and data protection, previously represented OneCoin and Ignatova — also known as the "Cryptoqueen," who is on the FBI's most-wanted list and remains at large.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, alleged in August that Gill is responsible for "an improper threat of litigation" sent in 2017 on behalf of OneCoin and Ignatova, which Gill denies.

Gill had asked the independent Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to anonymise OneCoin and Ignatova as it hears the disciplinary case.

But she withdrew that application this week after the tribunal ruled Carter-Ruck was arguably retained by OneCoin and Ignatova "in furtherance of fraud," meaning legal privilege did not apply and the firm's former clients could be named.

"It is no part of the SRA's case against Ms Gill that she or any of her colleagues — nor the other solicitors firms and barristers instructed — knew that OneCoin was a fraud," Carter-Ruck said in a statement. "Ms Gill and her colleagues certainly had no such knowledge."

Gill's bid to have the case dismissed is due to be heard in December. Carter-Ruck said Gill and the firm "proceeded entirely in good faith" and that it was confident Gill's conduct was "fully in accordance with her professional obligations."

A U.S. indictment accusing Ignatova of defrauding investors out of $4 billion via a Ponzi scheme was unsealed in 2019. Ignatova travelled from Bulgaria to Greece in 2017 and has not been seen publicly since, London's High Court said in a 2023 ruling.

The disciplinary case against a partner at Carter-Ruck, which is best known for representing prominent public figures, often in defamation and privacy claims against British newspapers, will be keenly watched by UK lawyers.

The case is one of the first concerning an alleged SLAPP, or strategic lawsuit against public participation. It follows a similar case against a lawyer who represented Britain's then finance minister Nadhim Zahawi that resulted in a 50,000-pound fine.