Solicitor commiting fraud?

Inception

Hi,

Not sure if this is technically in the right forum but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. As a business owner I am becoming increasingly concerned about another business owner in the area (owns a very similar business) who has fallen terminally ill and will not return to their business. This business has now been sitting redundant for a few years now with rumours that its for sale. Upon speaking with the current owner they confirmed it was for sale and would welcome an offer from us to buy this business.

Now here comes the tricky part. Upon contacting the solicitor acting on the owners behalf to sell their business I was specifically told that this business is 99% sold and awaiting completion. Now speaking with the owner they can confirm that there has been no mention from their solicitor of ANY offer being made and they certainly haven't accepted to sell it to anyone.

To make things even more suspicious the solicitor lives in very close proximity to the business. All these things have got the alarm bells ringing that the solicitor is holding off on this sale until the current owner is no longer alive. It seems a very morbid conclusion but I see no other motive.

Can anyone please advice on the course of action which should be taken? I believe this solicitor is committing serious fraud.

davidmcn

Inception wrote: »

I believe this solicitor is committing serious fraud.

I believe you are speculating wildly.

Have you advised the owner what his solicitor is saying?

sparky130a

Buy the business or don't...

Their legal representation will soon show their true colours.

steampowered

I don't understand why you are suspecting some type of fraud. I cannot see any motive at all. Why would the solicitor "hold off" selling the business until the owner dies? Surely the solicitor would want to get the business sold as soon as possible so that he can charge his fees for legal work in dealing with the sale?

Advise the owner what you have been told by the solicitor. It is then up to the owner to decide whether he wants to continue instructing this solicitor or not.

If you are interested in making an offer for the business, put it to the owner.

macman

The obvious explanation is that the vendor, due to his medical condition, has granted a POA to his solicitor to sell the business. The solicitor then has no requirement to update the vendor straight away should an offer to buy be made.
How you make the jump from there to 'serious fraud' is beyond me.

Mojisola

Inception wrote: »

Upon speaking with the current owner they confirmed it was for sale and would welcome an offer from us to buy this business.

Now speaking with the owner they can confirm that there has been no mention from their solicitor of ANY offer being made and they certainly haven't accepted to sell it to anyone.

steampowered wrote: »

Advise the owner what you have been told by the solicitor. It is then up to the owner to decide whether he wants to continue instructing this solicitor or not.

If you are interested in making an offer for the business, put it to the owner.

I second steampowered's suggestion.

You are in direct contact with the owner so tell him exactly what the solicitor has said and make an offer directly to the owner.

It's his affair whether he continues to trust the solicitor.

Inception

Thanks for the replies. Perhaps I am jumping the gun slightly but there is certain details that point the finger further that I wouldn't like to disclose on here just in case.

More importantly the owner instructed us to make an offer through the solicitor to whom did not inform the owner of this offer, we were simply told that it was 99% sold. This fact alone is suspicious no?

davidmcn

Inception wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Perhaps I am jumping the gun slightly but there is certain details that point the finger further that I wouldn't like to disclose on here just in case.

More importantly the owner instructed us to make an offer through the solicitor to whom did not inform the owner of this offer, we were simply told that it was 99% sold. This fact alone is suspicious no?

Confusing, perhaps. Not sure why "suspicious"? Solicitors and their clients do often contradict each other. The solicitor may have a differing idea of what their current instructions are. Go back to their client and get them to clarify what's going on.

Mojisola

Inception wrote: »

More importantly the owner instructed us to make an offer through the solicitor to whom did not inform the owner of this offer, we were simply told that it was 99% sold.

Send the letter in writing, addressed to the owner and copied to the solicitor so that he knows the owner is aware of your offer.

camptownraces

How many owners of the business are there?
Interceptor refers to owner as "they" and "their" - so perhaps solicitor is not keeping everyone up to date...

Inception

There is only the one owner who is currently terminally ill. The owner has told us face to face that the business in still for sale and absolutely no offers have been passed on by their solicitor, including the offers and interest made by ourselves to this solicitor.

Its a terrible situation that the owner has a limited time left and they are extremely worried. I feel its my duty to get to the bottom of this as they have no family to assist them. There might be a low chance that anything untoward is happening here but I certainly dont want to ignore this.

If the Solicitor is acting on their behalf what happens when the Owner dies? Assuming there is no successor in the family for this business. In a worse case scenario is there any way the solicitor can benefit from this? For example if the solicitor has another client in mind who is interested in the business, can they sell it to them for price lower than the owner initially wanted? Who has the final decision once the owner is gone?