Aminata
Pungi
Employee
7812252
Decision - Employee-related decision
Outcome: Control of non-qualified staff (Section 43 / Section 99 order)
Outcome date: 22 January 2026
Published date: 10 February 2026
Firm details
Firm or organisation at time of matters giving rise to outcome
Name: Latham & Watkins (London) LLP
Address(es): 99 Bishopgate, London, EC2M 3XF
Firm ID: 203820
Outcome details
This outcome was reached by SRA decision.
Decision details
Who does this decision relate to?
Aminata Pungi whose last known addresses were in the London Borough of Islington and in Surbiton, Surrey.
A person who is or was involved in a legal practice but is not a solicitor.
Summary of decision
The SRA has put restrictions on where and how Ms Pungi can work in an SRA regulated firm. It was found that:
Ms Pungi, who is not a solicitor, was involved in a legal practice and has been convicted of a criminal offence which is such that it is undesirable for her to be involved in a legal practice in any of the ways described in the order below.
The facts of the case
On 19 March 2025 Ms Pungi was convicted of the offence of Fraud by Abuse of Position contrary to sections 1 and 4 of the Fraud Act 2006. The circumstances of the offence were that, while working as a legal secretary at the firm of Latham & Watkins, Ms Pungi committed fraud by making unauthorised transfers from the personal bank accounts of an individual for whom she was working, into bank accounts held by her.
Decision on outcome
An order pursuant to section 43(2) of the Solicitors Act 1974 was imposed as Ms Pungi's conduct meant that it was undesirable for her to be involved in a legal practice without the SRA's prior approval. The order pursuant to section 43 was made with effect from the date of the letter or email notifying Ms Pungi of this decision.
Ms Pungi's conduct was serious because it involved the misappropriation of money belonging to an individual for whom she was working. It was an abuse of her position of trust and involved dishonesty.
Ms Pungi was also ordered to pay a proportion of the SRA's costs of £600.
What our Section 43 order means
- no solicitor shall employ or remunerate her in connection with his/her practice as a solicitor;
- no employee of a solicitor shall employ or remunerate her in connection with the solicitor's practice;
- no recognised body shall employ or remunerate her;
- no manager or employee of a recognised body shall employ or remunerate her in connection with the business of that body;
- no recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit her to be a manager of the body; and
- no recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit her to have an interest in the body
except in accordance with the SRA's prior written permission
Other information
£600 costs.