The South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ordered a candidate attorney Onga Ntozini, to repay the R3.6 million he stole from a client which was paid by Eskom in a settlement.
Ntozini was employed by Malebye Motaung Mtembu Attorneys when he hatched a plan to misappropriate funds belonging to a client.
The company was mandated to represent Grace Nzimande during litigation with her former employer Eskom.
As a legal representative, Ntozini advised Eskom to settle the action instituted against it in the amount of R3.6m which the power utility agreed to do.
Ntozini then drafted a bogus settlement agreement and directed the utility to pay the money directly to Nzimande’s bank account.
He then signed the fabricated settlement agreement purporting to be Nzimande and forwarded the documents back to Eskom for authorisation.
In reality, Nzimande had no knowledge of the settlement nor the contents of the settlement agreement and had not signed any documents.
Ntozini’s plans went awry when Eskom paid the money into Malebye Attorney’s trust account.
Ntozini’s boss informed him about the funds and directed him to tell Nzimande.
Instead of informing Nzimande about the money, Ntozini forged a letter on a First National Bank (FNB) letterhead and added Nzimande’s details which were actually his and submitted the details to his employer.
His boss, duly transferred the sum of R3.6m into the designated account, being Ntozini’s account.
After receiving the funds, Ntozini transferred a portion of the stolen funds into different bank accounts belonging to Zazi Ntozini, Lethabo Gailele and Busisiwe Pheleu.
He also used part of the stolen funds to settle personal debts and purchase assets. Between 21 December 21, 2020, and March 13. 2021, he had used approximately R2.6m.
After discovering the theft, Malebye sought and obtained an interim order which led to the freezing of Ntozini’s accounts. She also obtained his bank statements.
Malebye traced various transfers of stolen funds made by Ntozini to various parties.
There was over R1m left in his account.
In his answering affidavit, Ntozini admitted to the theft.
In her judgment, Judge Avrille Maier-Frawley said Malebye Motaung Mtembu Attorneys remains duty bound to account to its client for the misappropriated funds, specifically in circumstances where the client had not authorised use of the trust funds for payment.
She said the fact that Malebye was defrauded by Ntozini into believing that payment was being made in respect of a genuine settlement and into Nzimande’s account, will not release the law firm from any obligation.
Maier-Frawley ordered all parties that received money from Ntozini including from a law firm where he had created a trust account, to transfer the remaining funds back to Malebye Motaung Mtembu Attorneys.
Ntozini was also ordered to pay the application costs.
IOL