Judge rips attorney who fleeced helpless client

24 October 2016 - 09:08 By PHILANI NOMBEMBE

Western Cape lawyer Jacques du Preez has swapped his black court robes for orange prison gear for stealing from a paralysed and mentally challenged client. The High Court in Cape Town thwarted his bid for freedom after he was found guilty on theft and fraud charges in the Oudtshoorn Regional Court recently.Du Preez sued the provincial education department for an Oudtshoorn man who was badly injured falling off a step ladder at school in 1999 after his teacher told him to paint rugby poles.The department paid R500,000 into the lawyer's trust account in 2011 as a contingency measure to enable his client's needy family to take care of him.But Du Preez stole the money, and deposited nearly R400,000 in his mortgage bond account, claiming that it was his fee.He also duped a curator, appointed by the high court look to after the disabled man's interests, into believing that he had invested the money in an interest-bearing account and that he would pay the family R500 weekly from the interest.Handing down judgment last week, Judge Vincent Saldanha upheld the Oudtshoorn Regional Court findings and made scathing remarks about Du Preez's conduct."[Du Preez's conduct] in the circumstances where he acted of behalf of a poverty-stricken and incapacitated patient, and his family, is nothing short of shocking, particularly since it involved theft of the largest portion of the interim payment. [Du Preez] had not only breached the provisions of the contingency-fee agreement but had flouted one of the most fundamental ethics of an attorney by misappropriating trust money," Saldanha said."It is to attorneys that injured and often indigent people turn to claim compensation in personal injury cases. They ought to be able to continue to do so with confidence in the knowledge that attorneys would render a valuable service to the community. They should not be preyed upon by the very people they turn to for assistance."Du Preez could face further charges for alleged dodgy dealings. The Law Society is set to probe his conduct after his failed appeal. It has emerged that he has removed himself from the roll of practising attorneys...

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