Lawyer placed in naughty corner over alleged N$4.3m client money

The Law Society of Namibia (LSN) has been awarded a temporary interdict allowing it to take control of lawyer Leandri Lambert’s law firm’s trust accounts, which allegedly have a shortfall of approximately N$4.3 million in clients’ money.LSN filed an urgent application last week against the Windhoek-based legal practitioner, following investigations into her trust accounts in 2024.Lambert has also been temporarily prohibited, by court order, from handling her firm’s two trust accounts in any way pending the outcome of charges against her before the disciplinary committee for legal practitioners.The management and administration of the accounts have been temporarily handed over to the LSN’s director, Neliswa Tjahikika. The order takes immediate effect and will remain in place for 60 days, giving the LSN the opportunity to investigate Lambert’s affairs.Judge Eileen Rakow issued the court order on Thursday in the High Court in Windhoek.BackgroundAccording to Tjahikika’s affidavit, submitted as part of the urgent application, the case stems from an inspection at Lambert’s firm in July 2024.The LSN’s compliance manager, Abed Shipoke, conducted the inspection and discovered a significant shortfall in Lambert’s trust accounts. As a result, the LSN requested full financial records, which revealed a shortfall of approximately N$4.3 million in the two trust accounts.A meeting was held with Lambert on July 24, 2024."The meeting was intended to understand what had caused the significant shortfall in the trust accounts and to decide on the way forward to rectify the deficit," Tjahikika’s affidavit states.Shortly after, Lambert confirmed the shortfall in a sworn statement but indicated that the amount was around N$3.9 million. She also stated that she would be able to explain the reasons for the deficit by August 2, 2024."The LSN decided that the first respondent [Lambert] should cease operations at her practice in order to address the significant shortfall."On August 8, Lambert provided bank statements for one of the accounts as of August 8, 2024."In these statements, a transaction by [Lambert] showed a deposit of N$2.3 million to reduce the deficit. However, further bank statements received in January 2025 indicated that the same amount was withdrawn again on August 12."‘Personal expenses’Lambert reportedly arranged for an audit of the firm’s financial records in August, appointing auditing firm CR van Wyk & Co to oversee the process. The audit covered the period from the firm’s founding on February 23, 2022, to August 31, 2024. The audit report was submitted on November 22 and raised serious concerns."The findings in the report relate to the use of trust funds for personal expenses in 2022. The report also recorded payments in 2023 and 2024 for expenses unrelated to trust creditors. Similarly, payments in 2024 were made that could not be allocated to trust creditors," Tjahikika’s statement reads.The LSN subsequently requested another statement from Lambert to explain the findings."The explanation in that sworn statement was in no way sufficient."At the beginning of the year, the LSN did not issue Lambert a fidelity fund certificate, which is required for her to practice legally."On February 6, 2025, I became aware that [Lambert] was asking clients to deposit amounts of around N$50,000 into the trust account. I argue that this indicates she is still receiving funds from the public and intends to conduct transactions on her trust account despite not having a fidelity fund certificate," Tjahikika explained in her affidavit.UrgencyTjahikika argued that the case is urgent because the LSN aims to protect the public interest."My intervention as curator bonis will also be to the benefit of the first respondent [Lambert]. She risks losing fees due to delays or potential cancellations of transactions. Furthermore, the damage caused to clients by delays or even possible cancellations of transactions could lead to claims for damages against the first respondent as well as against the third respondent, the Fidelity Fund for Legal Practitioners," Tjahikika stated.The application was heard on an urgent basis and was postponed until April 11.– kristien@nmh-hub.com.na

Lawyer placed in naughty corner over alleged N$4.3m client money

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-20

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Lawyer placed in naughty corner over alleged N$4.3m client money

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Namibian Sun 2025-02-20

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