Former owner of Wolverhampton's Beatties building charged over £64 million fraud
The boss of the company which previously owned the Beatties building in Wolverhampton has been charged in connection with a £64 million fraud.
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Pragnesh Modwadia, who was the sold director of SSYS Beatties Ltd until the company collapsed in 2023, is one of five men charged with offences including fraud, forgery, and the destruction of documents, following the collapse of the law firm Axiom Ince and alleged improper use of more than £60 million of client money.
Modhwadia's company SSYS Beatties owned the former department store for five years before receivers were called in last year. The building has since been sold and is no longer connected to Modhwadia.
The charges relate to Modhwadia's role as chief executive of law firm Axion Ince, which had an office in Birmingham. He is charged alongside co-director Shyam Mistry and finance director Muhammad Ali with two counts of fraud by abuse of position. They are alleged to have misused client funds and exposed thousands of the firm’s clients to losses.
Modhwadia and Mistry are also charged, alongside the firm’s technology expert Rupesh Karawadra and IT specialist Jayesh Anjaria with conspiring to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents relevant to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) investigation into the firm. All five are also charged with conspiring to mislead the SRA using false documents.
