Lawyer convicted for embezzling funds, struck off
Wharren Jacobus Fortuin, aged 40, was convicted of embezzling over R1 million (US$73,000) from his clients between 2021 and 2014.
CAPE TOWN, June 9 (ANA) – A Cape Town lawyer has been convicted on 15 counts of theft by the specialised commercial crime court in Bellville.
Wharren Jacobus Fortuin, 40, was convicted of embezzling over R1 million (US$73,000) from his clients between 2021 and 2014, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) spokeswoman Zinzi Hani said in a statement dated Tuesday.
She said the Law Society had immediately struck Fortuin, who ran his own legal practice under the name Van Dyk, Potgieter Fortuin, from the roll of attorneys when allegations of criminal activity against him surfaced.
Fortuin had represented several of his clients on civil matters and payments were made into his bank account on their behalf.
He however used the money for personal gain, leading to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime unit summoning him to appear in court in January 2019.
Sentencing for Fortuin is expected on July 23.
In another case, 39-year-old Xolile Skoti was granted R25,000 bail at the Strand magistrate’s court on Monday after being arrested on Friday for the alleged possession of cocaine worth over R5.7 million.
The Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau together with Western Cape crime intelligence made the bust after intercepting the bakkie Skoti was travelling in at a fuel station along the N2 highway. Skoti was en route to Cape Town from Gauteng province.
Officers found 19 plastic bags of raw cocaine hidden in the back panels of the vehicle.
The case has been postponed to August 31.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa