The former wife of a crooked lawyer who carried out a 'breathtaking' £146m fraud has had £1.1million seized from the sale of her luxury Lake District home using an Unexplained Wealth Order amid claims it was bought with criminal proceeds.
Cumbria-based solicitor Timothy Schools raked in millions of pounds from his victims, pocketing cash invested into his Cayman Islands-registered Axiom Legal Financing Fund.
But by the time he was caught the proceeds had vanished, with the prosecution 'unable to identify any bank balance in his name in excess of about £50.'
Now the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has secured £1.1million from his former wife Claire using an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) after investigators traced fraudulently obtained funds to the purchase of the five-bed Hope Springs House, in Matterdale, Penrith.
The sprawling home, which includes a two-bedroom lodge and spectacular views of Lakeland Fells, was purchased using money from School's former husband's multi-million-pound investment scheme fraud, which involved no win, no fee law firms.
