Chatsworth attorneys dismiss corruption claims
THREE prominent Chatsworth attorneys who have been “falsely” accused of fraud and corruption on social media, have dismissed the “fake and defamatory” claims as cyberbullying by a “disgruntled ex-husband”.
In a Facebook post, created on a fake profile, on March 31, allegedly by a man, whose identity is known to the POST, various allegations of Road Accident Fund (RAF) fraud, corruption and murder were levelled against attorneys Nolan Naicker, Dianne Moodley and Shireen Soobrathie.
The man claimed that Naicker had been involved in “all the accidents caused on the Chatsworth Higginson Highway”.
He alleged that Naicker’s paralegal, Catherine Naidu, “cried out in church, in clear view of the congregation, that Nolan had a monthly target from the RAF …”
Naidu’s sister was married to the man. They are now divorced.
The man’s ex-wife, who did not want to be named as she feared for her life, said she had obtained a protection order against her ex-husband.
She claimed that since he had served her with divorce papers in 2021, he had been out to damage her relations with people close to her.
She believes that Moodley and
Soobrathie were singled out because of their involvement in the divorce case, and that Naicker was targeted because her sister, Catherine Naidu, assisted her and supported her through the divorce.
Naicker said he dismissed with contempt the fake and derogatory remarks.
“The message stems from a fake Facebook account that is now being circulated on WhatsApp groups. It is sad that people fail to question the legitimacy of a message that is clearly false and is utterly defamatory.
“Facebook needs to be held accountable as they failed to take down the account – allowing a very evil individual to perpetrate this heinous act of publishing false information intended to destroy my reputation,” he said.
Naicker added that an action for damages would be brought against Facebook and the individual or individuals behind the post.
“Criminal charges are also being brought. I reiterate that nothing in the message is true and I am able to prove this beyond any doubt.
“I also ask people circulating this message to apply their minds before doing so as it is a criminal offence, and unethical to disseminate information knowing it to be false or reasonably suspecting it to be,” he added.
Moodley, who has been in the legal profession for 25 years, said this was not the first cyberbullying attack on her and her family by the same man.
“This goes back a year, from when I began representing the man’s wife. We suspect that the culprit is a disgruntled mutual client. Shireen acted as the first attorney and I am the current attorney for their divorce.
“When he attacked me on social media in 2022, I was represented by Arvin Singh. We brought a case of defamation against him, and the case went on until the letter of demand stage, but no summons was issued. We thought this would deter him but it did not.
“The cyberbullying took a toll on my mental health and this is another level of abuse. I wonder how much more I can take. Last year, when he came after me in his post, it was just after I had spent about two months in hospital. He had seen me at court with short hair, as I had hair loss due to Covid-19, and posted that I was a transgender, and that I spoke like a man.
“This time, he claims my divorce was linked to corruption and fraud, but my ex-husband and I are respectfully divorced and we both have moved on and are in other relationships,” she said.
Moodley, who has been a small claims court commissioner for 20 years, confirmed that she too, would lay charges of defamation against the man. She claimed that he had hacked her personal Facebook account, and the ongoing abuse was intolerable.
“He has skills and can hack people’s accounts. He is vindictive and has also targeted me via email. It has been a very ugly two-year battle until the trial stage for their divorce, and the issues they had were finally resolved.
“Their divorce was finalised in December, but he still continues to cyberbully us,” she said.
Mohammed Moolla, chairperson of the Chatsworth Legal Circle, said the attorneys mentioned in the post were senior and highly-respected lawyers.
“They were defamed on social media and have a right of recourse to pursue a defamation case once evidence is gathered.
“With regards to the information that has been published, legal action will be taken once due process has been followed in proving, or more importantly, disproving the allegations made.
“The defamation is severe and amounts to the criminal offence of crimen injuria as well as a civil claim of defamation,” Moolla added.
He said lawyers were professional people, and statements of this kind impacted a lawyer’s reputation, profession and clients.
“Appropriate procedures must be followed to mitigate the damage caused by defamation on social media,” he said.