A Bloemfontein attorney, Elmarie Prinsloo (47), is accused of allegedly swindling a client of about R3,4 million and contravention of the Attorneys Act. She is expected to reappear in the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Thursday, 17 July. She appeared in court on Thursday, 26 June.
This is after the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit in Bloemfontein served her with summons on 11 June, following their probing into allegations of fraud and money laundering. The swindled cash is reportedly part of a victim’s estate.
WO Fikiswa Matoti, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, said Prinsloo is charged with fraud, theft, money laundering as well as contravention of the Attorneys Act. She said the fraud charge arose from the period of January 2015 to July 2017.
“The suspect was entrusted with the complainant’s estate, which she received in the form of cash of about R6 million. This amount was supposed to be held in a trust account on behalf of the complainant, but it was kept in the suspect’s personal account. This resulted in the complainant losing about R3,4 million,” said Matoti.
The charge of contravention relates to practicing without a Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC), which is binding for all attorneys in the profession. The Hawks uncovered this during the investigation.
The Legal Practice Council (LPC) issues an FFC to practitioners annually, and this is a mandatory licence for legal practitioners in South Africa who handle client funds. The document is a guarantee that the practitioner is authorised to manage trust accounts and protects the public from potential losses due to theft or misappropriation of these funds. It also ensures practitioners can handle client funds and property responsibly.
