A high-profile criminal defense lawyer, Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee, has been fined £6,500 ($8,600) by a disciplinary tribunal for making misleading statements about Mishcon de Reya LLP during a broadcast on an Iranian state-owned documentary channel.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that Akunjee claimed the prominent law firm was guilty of criminal money laundering, a statement described in the tribunal’s judgment as “clearly a garbled answer.”
The claim was made during a program on Press TV, a channel owned by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, in September 2022. Akunjee’s remarks referred to a record fine Mishcon de Reya received in January 2022 for breaching anti-money laundering regulations.
The tribunal acknowledged that Akunjee’s statements were an honest mistake, made during an unscripted interview. He had also incorrectly stated that Mishcon de Reya represented Chile’s former president, Augusto Pinochet, during Spain’s failed attempt to extradite him in 1999 for human rights violations. Akunjee admitted his error, apologized, and accepted that his remarks were inaccurate and without basis, according to the tribunal.
