A State advocate attached to the Western Cape Directorate for Public Prosecutions has taken over the case of an attorney accused of stealing millions of rand that were intended for Road Accident Fund claimants and deceased estates.
Eslin Frank Meyer, 59, who had practices in Mitchell’s Plain and Gordon’s Bay, pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and failure to keep proper accounting records, when his trial commenced in September last year.
He appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, Cape Town, on Monday, before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.
At Monday’s proceedings, DPP State advocate Tommy Bunguzama told the court he had taken the case over from State advocate Razia Valley-Omar, also from the DPP.
At Bunguzama’s request, the case was postponed to September 2.
According to the charge sheet, Meyer practised as Eslin Meyer Attorneys, but was interdicted from practising by the Cape Law Society some five years ago, after claims amounting to R6 441 657 were lodged with the Attorney’s Fidelity Fund.
The State alleges that, in some instances, Meyer retained for himself the full proceeds of payments made by the RAF, without informing the claimants that the RAF had paid their claims.
In other claims, he presented false payment advices to clients, paid only a portion of their claims and kept the rest for himself, it is alleged.
The charge sheet lists the names of three RAF claimants, who were either “short-changed” or failed to receive any money at all from claims that had been paid out.
Similarly, it is alleged that huge amounts were paid into Meyer’s trust accounts, as the proceeds of property sales pertaining to deceased estates, but were not paid over to the executors of the estates.
Reporting by
[Source: African News Agency]
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