Ongoing client woes
However, the battle for the failed investors is far from over, as now the buyers are confronting the law firm’s insurer, AIG, to get their cash back.
All law firms of Giambrone’s size in England and Wales must be insured for at least £3 million to cover such claims.
But AIG has so far argued the buyers’ claims should be treated as one claim. That means they would share the £3 million pot of cash between them, leaving a shortfall of around £4.5 million, including interest owed on the deposits.
David Niven, a partner at Penningtons Manches, one of the solicitors representing the buyers, says he will pursue AIG and argue that each client has a separate entitlement to the £3 million insurance pot, reports the Daily Mail.
“Caught in the crossfire”
Giambrone Law ceased to trade in 2009. Gabriele Giambrone, the main solicitor at the firm, was taken off the UK legal watchdog’s register of European lawyers in 2013. He has since set up a new firm, Giambrone, to advise on Italian legal matters.
“In 2007, when the firm was still relatively new, Giambrone Law LLP became the target of a complex fraud perpetrated by skilled and devious criminals,” Gabriele Giambrone told the Daily Mail.
“We were caught in the crossfire of the organised criminals allegedly involved with the IRA and mafia. We stopped working in Calabria when our suspicions about money laundering were alerted.”
The Italian solicitor says he has “repeatedly asked AIG to return the deposits to the clients.”
