A London lawyer has been accused of defrauding her clients to the tune of £3.6 million.

Deidre Newell-Austin set up her own firm, Austin Law, within three years of qualifying in 2006. But the "glamorous lawyer" ((c) The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph and all other tabloids)* is now being investigated over allegations that millions of pounds have gone missing from the firm's client account. The SRA closed down Austin Law last July citing "reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of Ms Newell-Austin" and, when it visited the firm's offices to seize its documents, it could only find 11 files.

So far 15 claims totalling £3.6 million have been submitted to the Solicitor's Compensation Fund. One couple who paid £410k to Austin Law to buy a house said they only realised something was wrong when bailiffs turned up to repossess their new home. They allege bank statements show Austin Law, while acting for the seller, transferred more than half the purchase money to a metal commodities trader in Manchester, and the rest has vanished.

Guilty of atrocious spelling

This week the press breathlessly reported that Newell-Austin was missing, presumed in some exotic location abroad, and that her lawyer Victor Aigbogun was unable to contact her. However Aigbogun told RollOnFriday that Newell-Austin was in the UK and had in fact turned up on Monday at his office in exotic Dartford. Apparently she came to pick up her file as Aigbogun has ceased to act for her because, he told RollOnFriday, of "issues which were irreconcilable".

A spokesman for the SRA said it had "liaised closely" with the Metropolitan Police and is "conducting further investigations to see if disciplinary action is needed".

*Click here to see what a glamorous solicitor really looks like.