Attorney charged with defrauding estate

Two sisters have accused a Cape Town attorney of defrauding their father’s estate of nearly R600 000.

|||

Cape Town – An attorney made his first appearance in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville on Thursday, facing a charge of fraud.

Ignatius Marthinus Potgieter, who practiced at Igmar Potgieter Attorneys in Durbanville in the Western Cape, appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.

According to the charge sheet, Potgieter persuaded sisters Cara and Sheena Bloem to appoint him to administer and finalise the estate of their father, Keith Bloem, who died five years ago.

Prosecutor Jannie Knipe alleges that he falsely led the sisters to believe that he would act in the best interest of the deceased estate and, in doing so, would pay their father’s bank home loan.

He also undertook to refrain from making any unauthorised withdrawals from a bank account that had to be opened in the name of the deceased estate, in accordance with the Administration of Estates Act.

During the year 2012, cash amounts totalling R580,676 were deposited into the estate’s account.

Potgieter had undertaken to administer the estate for a fixed fee of R35 000 but it is alleged that, in addition to this, he stole the R580 676.

He also faces an alternative charge of theft. He was warned to appear in court again on September 13.

African News Agency