Cape Town lawyer convicted of defrauding clients of R3m

Cape Town lawyer Anthony Reynolds might soon swap his robes for orange prison garb after he was found guilty of defrauding his clients of R3m.

The Bellville serious commercial crimes court convicted Reynolds, 58, on Friday. Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the court found Reynolds dipped into trust funds between 2008 and 2010.

“As a result, a number of his clients filed complaints with the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation team in Bellville for further probing,” said Hani.

“An investigation by the Hawks revealed Reynolds received proceeds from the sales of a number of immovable properties, but did not distribute the proceeds to his client. In another instance he was instructed by a client to recover funds owed to the client by the debtor.”

Hani said the debtor paid the funds into Reynolds’ trust account, but he failed to pay them over to his client. She said the probe came after the Legal Practice Council (LPC) brought a high court application to have Reynolds’ name struck off the roll of attorneys. The LPC said he “was no longer a fit and proper person to practise” as a lawyer.

“The embattled attorney has been on trial before the Bellville commercial crimes court charged with stealing over R3m from his clients, as well as allegedly engaging in money laundering by disposing of the sum between 2008 and 2010,” Hani said.

“The magistrate returned the unanimous verdict on the nine counts pending sentence on August 25.”

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