An attorney, who ran a practice in Lakefield, may be defrocked after he allegedly misappropriated clients’ trust funds from the sale of their homes.
According to two of his victims, a couple from Atlasville, attorney Manuel Fernando Martins Costa reportedly upped and left for Europe, after cheating various clients out of millions of rands.
The couple shared the information with the City Times subject to being guaranteed anonymity.
Costa handled the sale of their property in February this year.
The couple, who sought to retire after the deal, alleged he failed to transfer the balance of the purchase price due to them.
By June, after trying to make contact on numerous occasions with Costa and being unsuccessful, they became suspicious and reported the matter to The Law Society of the Northern Provinces (LSNP).
The LSNP’s head of disciplinary affairs, Maggie Malatji, confirmed the application for Costa’s removal from the attorney’s roll is pending.
The Attorneys Fidelity Fund, a fund that assists successful claimants with getting their expenses reimbursed if they have been defrauded or cheated by lawyers, is now also involved in the matter.
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In a response to the City Times, chief executive officer of The Attorneys Fidelity Fund Motlatsi Molefe stated: “The matter involving the couple has been received for consideration and is currently with two board members who will provide approval of payment or otherwise, following management’s recommendation to do so.”
According to Molefe, the fund settles claims based on their validity within the scope of the Attorneys Act 53 of 1979 and precedents interpreting the same from the courts upon which if the claim is valid, it will be paid out to claimants.
It was also reported the case against Costa has been escalated to the Hawks, but the City Times has not yet received a comment from the Hawks’ spokesperson about this.
According to the Atlasville couple, Costa has since fled the country to Europe, although his wife and children remain in South Africa.
“We just want others to be aware and to always check who they are dealing with as this can happen to anyone,” said the wife.
The City Times attempted to reach Costa by phone for comment, but neither his firm’s landline number nor his cell phone was answered, and provided him with the opportunity to comment on the allegations via Whatsapp.
At the time of going to press, Costa had not reacted to the messages.
According to the LSNP, Costa was admitted as an attorney on May 27, 1999.
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