Ince & Co LLP

City lawyer who dated Caine girl is investigated over £3m fraud

A CITY lawyer is at the centre of a criminal fraud investigation after ml!lions of pounds went missing from his London firm.

Andrew Iyer, a former senior partner at lnce & Co in charge of energy deals, was reported to Scotland Yard after an internal investigation found up to £3 million of clients’ money had allegedly been moved into companies under his ultimate control.

Mr Iyer, 44, who also writes crime thrillers and used to date Natasha Caine, the daughter of actor Sir Michael, resigned from the firm last July after being accused of “irregular financial behaviour”.

But the Evening Standard has learned that Mr Iyer is the subject of two ongoing investigations by the Met’s economic and specialist crime command fraud squad and the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

It is the second financial scandal to involve atop City lawyer in a matter of days. Last week, it emerged Christopher Grierson, a senior partner with Hogan Lovells, had been sacked for fiddling more than £1million in personal expenses.

The investigation is embarrassing for Ince & Co as Mr Iyer used to head its energy division and, as senior partner, was in charge of large budgets.

He specialised in commercial litigation with a focus on energy, shipping, international trade and insurance law - and was heavily involved with the offshore wind turbine sector.

Mr Iyer has also written two legal thrillers, The Betrayed and Domino Run. Before he married fellow Ince lawyer Milena Augusta Zoccarato, he was a regular on London’s party circuit and used to date the daughter of football legend Bobby Moore.

Mr lyer also owns a yacht, Portia, with which he has won many races on the South Coast. He was known by his middle-name Andrew and used to live under that name in Fuiham, according to the electoral roll. But the Evening Standard found he is now registered under his first name Nathan in a gated £800,000 five-bedroom house in Bursledon, Hampshire.

Mr Iyer declined to comment on the allegations. An Ince spokeman said: “Nathan Andrew Iyer was suspended and subsequently resigned as a consequence of his irregular financial behaviour. No other members of staff were involved. We reported the issue to the police and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. We immediately took steps to ensure no clients would suffer any loss. The matter since then has been in the hands of the police and the SRA.”

A Met spokesman said: “I can confirm that an allegation of fraud was referred to the MPS by a law firm based in east London. There have been no arrests and enquiries are ongoing.”

Evening Standard 27 May 2011

On 7 February 2012 Andrew Iyer was struck off the Solicitors' Roll. The question is, what kind of a firm are Ince & Co to let such a large scale fraud pass them by for so long?