Disbarred lawyer jailed for defying court orders
A state marshal has apprehended and jailed Nickola Cunha, the divorce lawyer who was disbarred after she made antisemitic claims about a conspiracy among judges and then was made the subject of an arrest order after failing to appear and provide an accounting of client funds.
Cunha was taken into custody at a restaurant in Wallingford on Friday night and transported to the state prison for women in East Lyme, where she was to be held for an appearance at Superior Court in Middletown this morning.
She was dining with her husband, Luis, at Christo’s Restaurant and Bar at 7:30 p.m. when Wallingford police assisted the marshal with the civil arrest. Luis Cunha was charged with interfering with the arrest and later released on a $5,000 bond.
Cunha was disbarred in January, while representing a party in an exceptionally bitter divorce, for making antisemitic claims that a judge and lawyers were profiting from rulings and appointments to lucrative consulting positions in the case.
Judge Thomas Moukawsher, who disbarred Cunha, issued a civil order for her arrest in April after she failed to comply with his instructions to close her law practice and account for client funds in her custody. Among other things, Cunha allegedly withdrew $30,000 from a client account in violation of Moukawsher’s order.
Also last week, the state judicial office responsible for investigating complaints against lawyers filed papers in court saying that a limited audit of Cunha’s office showed other alleged irregularities in the handling of client funds, including failing to distribute a settlement in a timely fashion and withdrawing client settlement money without authorization.
In telephone conversations in the week before her apprehension, Cunha denied holding antisemitic beliefs and said her handling of clients funds is proper and easily explained.
“I’m not saying anything against the Jewish religion,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who are Jewish. I shared office space with a husband and wife that are Jewish pretty much the majority of my career.”