LAWYERS blasted for waving through hundreds of claims from an unlicensed ‘introducer’ have been hit with a winding-up order by the Official Receiver.

Legal watchdogs fined one of KG Solicitors employees and issued the Blackburn firm with a rebuke after the outfit took on 544 claims from the unregistered Burnley-based Legal Claims Helpline.

The practice, then based at Lex House, off Blakewater Road, paid LCH £500 a time, even thought the venture was not authorised by the Ministry of Justice.

Now KG is being wound up after a petition was lodged with the Business and Property Court in Manchester by UK Independent Medical Services Ltd.

District Judge Paul Richmond, after hearing from UK Independent Medical’s counsel, approved the petition, which is now in the hands of the Official Receiver.

KG Solicitors, which has latterly been based at the Saturn Business Centre, off Challenge Way, was unavailable for comment as the Lancashire Telegraph went to press.

A spokesman for the Solicitors Regulation Authority said: “There is no requirement on firms to notify us of their liquidation unless there may be outstanding cases to deal with.”

Investigators from the SRA found previously that the firm had handed over more than £215,000, for 544 claims, between April and September 2016.

Under MoJ rules, legal outfits are only allowed to deal with 25 such claims per quarter.

One of their solicitors, Maneer Ghani, told an inquiry that though had seen such guidance, he believed he would be okay if he only paid for 25 claims per quarter.

He was providing consultancy services for KG at the time and was also a manager of one of their road traffic claim teams.

He blamed a number of problems in his personal life at the time for the oversight.

Ghani was fined £5,000 with £7,658 costs by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the firm was given an official rebuke, with £1,350 costs, after various offences against them were found proved at separate hearings in London.