A FORMER Swakopmund attorney who recently moved his law firm to Oshakati has been suspended from practising as a legal practitioner for 30 days.
It is alleged that money entrusted to him by clients had found its way into his overdrawn personal or business bank accounts. Lawyer Werner van Rensburg is being temporarily suspended pending the outcome of a complaint lodged against him with the Disciplinary Committee that under the Legal Practitioners Act has to investigate disciplinary complaints against legal practitioners in Namibia.This was ordered by Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote on Friday in an application that the Law Society of Namibia lodged against Van Rensburg in the High Court.In terms of the order, Van Rensburg is also prohibited from operating his business bank account at a Swakopmund bank and his trust bank account at the same bank.Van Rensburg did not oppose the Law Society’s application.In a letter dated July 24 that he sent to the Law Society and that formed part of the application before Acting Judge Heathcote, Van Rensburg stated that he would not oppose the Law Society’s application, in spite of the fact that he “does not agree in total with the allegations” contained in affidavits filed with the court.He “remains loyal and co-operative” to the Law Society, Van Rensburg stated at the close of the letter.The Director of the Law Society, Retha Steinmann, informed the court in an affidavit setting out the reasons for the application that on April 5 she received a document, together with added documentation, from an employee of Van Rensburg, Antoinette Geldenhuys, who alleged that Van Rensburg had stolen money he was supposed to keep in trust for clients.Van Rensburg’s initial response was to deflect the allegations in the direction of his estranged wife, Ronel van Rensburg, who had also been employed with his firm.He claimed that his wife had misappropriated trust money from the firm’s trust account, according to Steinmann.In a letter addressed to the Law Society on April 11, Van Rensburg claimed that it had become known to him during March and April that Mrs Van Rensburg had told staff at the firm and other people as early as 2003 already “that she would see to it that (Van Rensburg) will be found guilty of fraud and she will fill her pockets as much as possible”.He did not know whether she said this during periods when he and his wife were having arguments or quarrels, Van Rensburg added.Steinmann informed the court that when the Law Society had the firm’s books of account written up by the end of April, “it appeared that there were substantial unlawful transfers made from the trust account and also a shortfall on the trust account”.Auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was then asked to do an audit of the accounts.Steinmann informed the court that they reported that “(v)arious unauthorised and irregular transfers from (Van Rensburg’s) trust bank account occurred, coupled with numerous other irregularities”.The person who was responsible – or at the very least had to take the ultimate responsibility – for these transfers, was Van Rensburg himself, Steinmann stated.She noted that the unauthorised or irregular transfers had taken place from Van Rensburg’s trust account to his business or his personal bank accounts – “seemingly in order to – as an emergency measure – bring his excessively overdrawn personal and business bank accounts within permissible limits”.She informed the court that PWC concluded that irregular Internet transfers amounting to N$280 000 had been made from Van Rensburg’s trust account to his business or personal accounts between mid-June last year and early February this year.When those transfers were made, the auditors reported, the overdraft limits on Van Rensburg’s business and personal accounts were exceeded by as much as some N$37 000 on the business account’s overdraft limit of N$60 000, and as much as about N$44 500 on the overdraft limit of N$40 000 on Van Rensburg’s personal account.The estranged Mrs Van Rensburg, who claims to have done Internet transfers on instructions from her husband, was no longer employed at the firm from mid-February this year, the auditors also reported.From early March to early April, PWC reported, nine cheques totalling N$155 000 were drawn from Van Rensburg’s trust account and paid into his business or personal account.Again, his personal account’s overdraft limit was being exceeded by as much as N$36 400 in that time.According to the auditors, some N$67 121 of this N$155 000 had been drawn irregularly from the trust account.Van Rensburg has undertaken to repay the shortfall on his trust account into the account by the end of February next year, Steinmann also informed the court.Lawyer Werner van Rensburg is being temporarily suspended pending the outcome of a complaint lodged against him with the Disciplinary Committee that under the Legal Practitioners Act has to investigate disciplinary complaints against legal practitioners in Namibia.This was ordered by Acting Judge Raymond Heathcote on Friday in an application that the Law Society of Namibia lodged against Van Rensburg in the High Court.In terms of the order, Van Rensburg is also prohibited from operating his business bank account at a Swakopmund bank and his trust bank account at the same bank.Van Rensburg did not oppose the Law Society’s application.In a letter dated July 24 that he sent to the Law Society and that formed part of the application before Acting Judge Heathcote, Van Rensburg stated that he would not oppose the Law Society’s application, in spite of the fact that he “does not agree in total with the allegations” contained in affidavits filed with the court.He “remains loyal and co-operative” to the Law Society, Van Rensburg stated at the close of the letter.The Director of the Law Society, Retha Steinmann, informed the court in an affidavit setting out the reasons for the application that on April 5 she received a document, together with added documentation, from an employee of Van Rensburg, Antoinette Geldenhuys, who alleged that Van Rensburg had stolen money he was supposed to keep in trust for clients.Van Rensburg’s initial response was to deflect the allegations in the direction of his estranged wife, Ronel van Rensburg, who had also been employed with his firm.He claimed that his wife had misappropriated trust money from the firm’s trust account, according to Steinmann.In a letter addressed to the Law Society on April 11, Van Rensburg claimed that it had become known to him during March and April that Mrs Van Rensburg had told staff at the firm and other people as early as 2003 already “that she would see to it that (Van Rensburg) will be found guilty of fraud and she will fill her pockets as much as possible”.He did not know whether she said this during periods when he and his wife were having arguments or quarrels, Van Rensburg added.Steinmann informed the court that when the Law Society had the firm’s books of account written up by the end of April, “it appeared that there were substantial unlawful transfers made from the trust account and also a shortfall on the trust account”.Auditing firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was then asked to do an audit of the accounts.Steinmann informed the court that they reported that “(v)arious unauthorised and irregular transfers from (Van Rensburg’s) trust bank account occurred, coupled with numerous other irregularities”.The person who was responsible – or at the very least had to take the ultimate responsibility – for these transfers, was Van Rensburg himself, Steinmann stated.She noted that the unauthorised or irregular transfers had taken place from Van Rensburg’s trust account to his business or his personal bank accounts – “seemingly in order to – as an emergency measure – bring his excessively overdrawn personal and business bank accounts within permissible limits”.She informed the court that PWC concluded that irregular Internet transfers amounting to N$280 000 had been made from Van Rensburg’s trust account to his business or personal accounts between mid-June last year and early February this year.When those transfers were made, the auditors reported, the overdraft limits on Van Rensburg’s business and personal accounts were exceeded by as much as some N$37 000 on the business account’s overdraft limit of N$60 000, and as much as about N$44 500 on the overdraft limit of N$40 000 on Van Rensburg’s personal account.The estranged Mrs Van Rensburg, who claims to have done Internet transfers on instructions from her husband, was no longer employed at the firm from mid-February this year, the auditors also reported.From early March to early April, PWC reported, nine cheques totalling N$155 000 were drawn from Van Rensburg’s trust account and paid into his business or personal account.Again, his personal account’s overdraft limit was being exceeded by as much as N$36 400 in that time.According to the auditors, some N$67 121 of this N$155 000 had been drawn irregularly from the trust account.Van Rensburg has undertaken to repay the shortfall on his trust account into the account by the end of February next year, Steinmann also informed the court.
