Lawyer who defrauded state attorney out of more than R34m disbarred

08 June 2023 - 13:32
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A lawyer who defrauded the state attorney out of more than R34m has been disbarred. Stock photo.
A lawyer who defrauded the state attorney out of more than R34m has been disbarred. Stock photo.
Image: 123RF/Olivier Le Moal

A lawyer, Hassan Ebrahim Kajee, who defrauded the state attorney out of more than R34m, has been disbarred.

Ruling to strike him from the roll of advocates on Tuesday, the Johannesburg high court said the Johannesburg Society of Advocates, who brought the application, did so in the interests of the court, the profession and the public.

“The nature and extent of the respondent's misconduct can lead to no other conclusion than the respondent is not a fit and proper person to continue to practice as an advocate,” said judges Motsomai Makume and Willem Wepener.

Kajee, who was appointed in various matters to represent the state, was arrested by the Hawks on April 1 on numerous charges of fraud.

An investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed he inflated invoices, invoiced for services not rendered and overcharged for alleged services rendered.

Kajee allegedly billed for more than 24 hours a day and for work on different matters simultaneously.

He was admitted as an advocate of the high court by the Natal provincial division on May 29 1995. He became a member of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates on May 1 2006.

During proceedings, the court heard the R34,211,875.00 charged to the state attorney equalled R66,950.83 every day for 511 days.

It was pointed out that this was impossible for any counsel whose highest hourly rate over that period was R2,500 per hour and R25,000 per day.

Makume and Wepener said the payment of R34m to him by the office of the state attorney resulted from a corrupt relationship between him and the state attorney's office.

“He, among other things, charged for work he had not performed. That is fraud,” they said.

“We are satisfied the offending conduct of dishonesty and overreaching, coupled with settling matters without a client's mandate, have been proved in a balance of probabilities and this on its own makes the respondent an unfit person to continue to practice as an advocate of this court.”

The judges said Kajee has exhibited a serious flaw in that he shows no remorse — and worse, he is still insisting the bar council has no jurisdiction over him now that he has resigned. 

The SIU has welcomed the ruling which also ordered Kajee to pay the legal costs of the Johannesburg Society of Advocates.

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