Lawyer, wife charged with theft from clients
AN Eastern Cape lawyer and his secretary wife appeared in court yesterday after the two allegedly stole close to R1-million paid out to clients by the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
In addition, it is alleged Dewald Viljoen, of Dewald E Viljoen Attorneys, and his wife, Bernice, stole more than R200 000 meant for the transfer of properties and nearly R400 000 in debt collections.
The Viljoen’s, of Uitenhage, were summonsed to appear in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crimes Court yesterday. The case was postponed to April 8 for legal representation to be arranged.
According to the charge sheet, Dewald Viljoen, 51, held a separate trust banking account with Absa as per the Attorneys Act.
His wife Bernice, 49, was employed as his secretary or bookkeeper at all times and was a signatory to the separate business account.
The prosecution alleges that between February 2009 and October 2011, Viljoen received R976 000 into his trust account from successful claims instituted against the RAF.
It is alleged that instead of paying the funds over to his clients, Viljoen misappropriated the money.
The money was allegedly paid over to his business or farming account, “Dewald Viljoen Boerdery”, and “ab- sorbed and utilised for his own purposes”.
The prosecution claims Bernice was at all times aware of the misappropriation and acted in common purpose with her husband.
When clients inquired about money due to them, Viljoen allegedly stalled them for as long as three years before writing out cheques which ultimately bounced.
Fourteen people lost close to R1million.
The charge sheet further states that complainant Khuselwa Mtati and her husband lost about R40 000.
The Mtatis had agreed to purchase a house for R90 000 with the aid of a R54 000 subsidy from the Department of Human Settlements.
On April 28 2010, the balance of R36 000 was paid into Viljoen’s trust account.
A further R4 241 was paid in lieu of transfer costs. When the subsidy failed to materialise the deal fell through, but the state alleges the money paid into the trust account was never repaid.
Among other allegations are a loss of R195 000 suffered by Siphiwo Kanono in 2010 relating to funds received from the sale of a Motherwell property.
It is further alleged that between January 2011 and February 2012, Viljoen was not in possession of a valid Fidelity Fund certificate and therefore could not practice as an attorney during that time.