Two property companies owned by the former head of collapsed law firm Axiom Ince have gone into liquidation.
Winding up resolutions have been passed against Brockley Hill Limited and Pragma Homes Limited, both of which are solely owned by Pragnesh Modhwadia.
Modhwadia was one of three directors of Axiom Ince suspended by the Solicitors Regulation Authority last summer, before the regulator intervened to shut down the firm altogether.
In court proceedings over a freezing order application for the firm’s assets in September, it was confirmed by Modhwadia that around £64m was missing from the client account. Some of this money was used to purchase six properties and fund construction work on a further seven – as well as to buy law firms Ince & Co and Plexus Legal.
Brockley Hill Limited was placed into voluntary liquidation last month after a resolution for winding up was made. A statement of affairs published on Companies House at the same time revealed that the company, incorporated in September 2022, had assets of £285,000 but owes £2m to Axiom Ince Limited. A further £180,000 is owed to a contractor based in west London.
Brockley Hill was put into the control of joint liquidators from Evelyn Partners LLP and Leonard Curtis Recovery Limited, as was Pragma Homes Limited.
Pragma was incorporated in 2016 and is also now in voluntary liquidation. Its statement of affairs showed it has £1m in assets but owes £300,000 to Axiom Ince Limited and £720,000 to trade creditors.
According to Companies House, Modhwadia, 41, has had directorships with 30 different companies. Seven of these are now dissolved and eight are subject to receiver action. Axiom DWFM Properties Limited, a company incorporated in February 2022, was subject to a winding up petition earlier this year.
A qualified solicitor, Modhwadia continues to be suspended by the SRA on the ground of reason to suspect he had been dishonest.
The regulator is subject to an ongoing review into how it handled the Axiom Ince affair, after it waited three months from the Ince & Co deal being announced to send investigators in. The Legal Services Board, which commissioned the review, has said an interim report is likely to appear later this spring.
