The lawyer allegedly unlawfully and intentionally accessed the firm’s account and utilised the client’s money for his personal benefit.
An Eastern Cape attorney has been released on R2000 bail following his appearance in court over fraud allegations.
Police spokesperson Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said Du Wayne Stoltz, 39, a law firm director of Michael Randell Attorneys was arrested by the Gqeberha Hawk’s Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team on November 28, the same day he appeared in court and was granted bail.
It is alleged that Stoltz had provided legal assistance to his client relating to compensation from a former employer in 2021 and 2022, but cash was reportedly deposited to the law firm’s bank account, said Mhlakuvana.
“Consequently, the accused allegedly unlawfully and intentionally accessed the firm’s account and utilised the client’s money for his personal benefit. The case docket was opened and handed over to the Hawks for investigation.”
The Hawks investigations found that Stoltz utilised funds without the client’s authority or permission.
“Further investigations revealed that the client was prejudiced of more than R280 000”.
Stoltz’s case was postponed to Thursday for legal representation.
This comes as some attorneys have been stuck off the roll over misconduct allegations.
Last week, the “Cape Times” reported that disgraced Eastern Cape attorney Zuko Nonxuba had been struck off the roll of attorneys over allegations that he misappropriated hundreds of millions of rand due to his former clients, mostly minor children related to medical negligence cases in the Eastern Cape.
This week the Western Cape High Court barred attorney Heinrich Francisco Gonzales. He had allegedly not only misappropriated trust monies but also attempted to mislead both the Legal Practice Council (LPC) and the court to evade responsibility.
LPC executive officer Charity Nzuza recently confirmed that the body had registered 11 073 complaints against legal practitioners from January to September 21, 2024. Of these, 11 167 were finalised.
Nzuza said during this period 7 589 were complaints of a serious nature including account regularities and overcharging clients.
Cape Times
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