Lawyer arrested at firm McKeowns

Police are investigating an alleged £5m fraud by a lawyer from personal injury law firm McKeowns.

Partner Brian Barso was arrested last week, but released without charge. Barso has been suspended from the company along with two junior members of staff. It is understood that McKeowns itself is not implicated in the alleged fraud.

Insurance Times understands that the alleged fraud focuses on payments received by Barso over a period of time.

It is so far unclear whether the case involves external parties.

Diarmuid McKeown said: “Everyone at this firm is devastated at the allegations concerning Brian. We cannot believe he may have breached the trust we placed in him, but have had no option but to suspend him pending an investigation. Our focus now is on ensuring business as usual.”

He added: “Fortunately, the firm has a strong team with vast experience in our areas of personal injury and employment claims and we are confident that our work will be unaffected.”