Days of luxury may be at an end for 'bogus lawyer'

A penchant for the finer things in life could be the downfall of an alleged bogus lawyer accused of stealing millions of rands from an insolvent estate.

Not even the High Court in Cape Town is certain who it is dealing with, but the wheels have started coming off his fleet of luxury cars.

The court granted a provisional sequestration order against Mohamed Ismail Patel, also known as Patel Muhamed.

Now he risks losing a Jaguar, a Porsche, a Land Rover and a boat. His R3.3-million double-storey mansion in Rylands, Cape Town, and two holiday homes in Langebaan, worth a combined R2.5-million, were seized in recent weeks.

The sequestration application was brought by Sivalutchmee Moodliar, a trustee of the insolvent Coe Family Trust's estate, of which Patel was a joint trustee.

In an affidavit Moodliar accuses him of misappropriating R9.35-million from the estate and "stealing" R8.77-million.

"This is not a friendly sequestration. In the absence of co-operation from [Patel], it is difficult to accurately assess [his] financial position."

Eileen Fey, provisional trustee of Patel's estate, said yesterday the seized assets were returned to Patel after he obtained a spoliation order from the Wynberg Magistrate's Court, but the order would be challenged.

Earlier, she said: "We have possession of the two properties in Club Mykonos, Langebaan, and his home in Rylands.

"We have taken his Jaguar and we got a boat in the Hout Bay harbour. We are still looking for five motor vehicles."

Last February, the Cape Law Society obtained an interdict barring Patel from practising as an attorney. An application to have him struck off the roll for allegedly falsifying his law qualifications will be heard next month.

Fey said Patel's son had told her his father was in Johannesburg. "We got an e-mail that was sent to us in error from his office ... in a very fancy part of Sandton," she said.

"Then we were told ... he had moved into an office in Pretoria ... but when we sent somebody there they couldn't find him."

Responding to e-mailed questions from the Sunday Times, Patel sent a 9,000-word document with allegations against Moodliar and Leonard Katz, the Cape Town lawyer who reported him to the law society.