adminAuxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO lawyer Mr James Mutsauki, whose law firm was placed under curatorship over alleged fraud involving more than $30 000, has applied to the Law Society of Zimbabwe to be deregistered.
James Mutsauki Attorneys was placed under curatorship after the profession’s regulatory body detected alleged abuse of funds at the law firm in 2016.
According to the LSZ 2017 report, Mr Mutsauki has filed an application for de-registration and the status of his law firm reads “abandonment.”
LSZ president Mr Misheck Hogwe said Mr Mutsauki was not practising pending finalisation of his application.
“He has not been issued with a Practising Certificate this year. It simply means he is not practising at the moment. His application is before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal,” said Mr Hogwe.
Mr Mutsauki’s woes began when the LSZ filed an urgent chamber application seeking an order to have the law firm placed under curatorship for defrauding clients.
Justice Makonese granted an order suspending Mr Mutsauki from practising as a lawyer for six weeks and ordered the LSZ to appoint its deputy executive secretary, Mr Wilbert Mandinde, as curator pending investigations into the alleged fraud.
The judge also ordered the LSZ to immediately take control of James Mutsauki Attorneys’ trust accounts and administer them.
The law firm had initially been ordered to close its offices after Mr Mutsauki failed to renew his practising certificate for 2016.
In its 2016 report, the LSZ revealed that it was threatened with claims amounting to $3 million emanating from theft, fraud, forgery and dishonest practices from some of its members, with deregistered Bulawayo law firm Cheda and Partners having the highest claim at $1 million.
The LSZ administers a fund aimed at compensating members of the public who would have incurred losses due to theft, fraud and other dishonest practices committed either by a registered legal practitioner or their employees. — @AuxiliaK
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