A Carter-Ruck partner solicitor has been recommended for prosecution over OneCoin legal threats.

The UK’s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recommended Claire Frances Gill for prosecution on March 21st, 2025.

As noted by Dan Neidle, founder of Tax Policy Associated, Carter-Ruck attempted to prevent Gill’s prosecution recommendation from being made public.

This failed, resulting Gill’s prosecution recommendation being made public on August 6th.

Explaining their decision, the SRA states;

This notification relates to a Decision to prosecute before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

This is an independent Tribunal which will reach its own decision after considering all the evidence, including any evidence put forward by the Solicitor.

The Tribunal has certified that there is a case to answer in respect of allegations which are or include that, on or around 26 April 2017, Ms Gill sent or arranged to be sent correspondence which contained an improper threat of litigation.

Gill, through Carter-Ruck, is documented to be publicly representing OneCoin and founder Ruja Ignatova as early as September 2016.

After the the FCA issued a public OneCoin warning and confirmed a City of London Police investigation in 2016, The Mirror’s Andrew Penman reached out to Carter-Ruck for comment;

Claire Gill, partner at Carter-Ruck, said: “Neither the FCA nor the City of London Police have contacted our clients.

No allegations of any wrongdoing have been put to them and the basis for and scope of any investigation has not been explained. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.

All our clients’ rights are reserved.

Following pressure from Carter-Ruck and the Chelgate PR firm, the FCA withdrew its OneCoin warning in August 2017. The City of London Police abandoned its OneCoin investigation in September 2019.

As to the SRA’s cited April 26th, 2017 date, this likely coincides with a legal threat Carter-Ruck sent to Jennifer McAdam following an interview with Bjorn Bjercke.

For context, Jennifer McAdam is a OneCoin investor turned advocate who claims £9000 GBP in losses. In February 2017, Bjercke went public with claims OneCoin was lying about having a blockchain.

The McAdams Bjercke interview was held in on April 5th, 2017.

From The Bureau of Investigation Journalism in 2023;

t was exactly three weeks after the webinar that the email arrived. The attachment was a letter from lawyers representing OneCoin and Ignatova, its co-founder.

“Our clients’ current instructions”, it stated, “are to initiate proceedings against you for defamation.”

The only way to avoid a court case, the letter said, was to refrain from publishing similar allegations and to retract the webinar video (which had actually been uploaded by someone else). She had seven days to act.

“My heart was beating out of my chest. I just wanted to scream,” McAdam recalled. The name on the firm’s teal letterhead was one she hadn’t heard before: Carter-Ruck.

Three weeks out from April 5th is April 26th – the date the SRA cited in their prosecution recommendation.

Cases the SRA recommends for prosecution are heard before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).

I don’t have a timeline for what happens next but presumably the status of the SRA’s Claire Gill’s case will be updated on their website. Stay tuned.