Dozens of Nelson Mandela Bay residents who lost thousands of rand trying to secure property deals were allegedly swindled out of R2.1m by a former Kariega attorney — with some incidents reported to have happened after he was interdicted from practising law.
Trashwon Webb is now out on R500 bail and is being represented by Legal Aid SA.
Despite having been interdicted from practising law and prohibited from holding a trust account after December 2017, Webb allegedly continued on occasion to misappropriate funds meant for property purchases.
His clients paid amounts ranging from R20,000 to more than R335,000 for property transactions that he purportedly never completed.
In one reported incident, he allegedly sold a property without his client’s knowledge and failed to reimburse him.
The Legal Practitioners’ Fidelity Fund later recovered some of these losses.
Webb was struck off the roll by the Makhanda high court in October 2018.
He is expected to appear in the city’s commercial crimes court on October 6.
Charges include theft, fraud, contempt of court and soliciting funds knowing the money was unlawfully obtained.
Despite multiple attempts to contact Webb on Wednesday, he could not be reached.
Legal Aid SA provincial Siphokazi Nogaya did not respond by the time of publication.
Webb had previously worked for several entities, including the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the government and other private entities.
He later became the sole director of Webb at Law Incorporated Attorneys in Kariega.
On Wednesday, NPA regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said Webb was facing 28 charges.
According to the provisional charge sheet, Webb was interdicted from practising law as an attorney on December 12 2017.
When contacted, Legal Practice Council provincial director Alfred Hona said Webb was then struck off the roll on October 9 2018 after a Makhanda high court order.
After he was interdicted from practising in December 2017, two of his clients agreed to buy a house in Tamboville through Webb, according to the provisional charge sheet.
Webb allegedly requested that the R95,000 purchase price plus R7,000 in transfer fees be paid into his account.
The next month, they deposited R102,000, but Webb allegedly failed to process the transfer and misappropriated the funds.
In one of the initial incidents on December 15 2015, his client bought a house in KwaNobuhle for R350,000.
On the same day, the client paid R300,000 into Webb’s account as part payment for the purchase.
The transfer could not proceed because the sale agreement was void due to an incorrect property description.
Webb repaid R255,441.62 and allegedly misappropriated R44,558.38.
In another incident in May 2016, a client wanted to buy a house in KwaNobuhle for R110,000.
At Webb’s request, the client paid the full amount in June 2017.
Webb, however, reportedly did not effect the transfer and instead allegedly misappropriated the R110,000.
Again in June 2017, another client wanted to buy a house in KwaNobuhle, this time in the presence of Webb.
Webb requested payment of R80,000, with R75,000 for the purchase price of the property and R5,000 for Webb’s fees and transfer costs.
The next day, his client paid R80,000, but Webb allegedly misappropriated the money.
In May 2017, a client, having been appointed a legal representative by the court to manage the financial and property affairs of a person unable to do so, entered into a deed of sale with Webb for a house in Rosedale.
According to the charge sheet, the deed of sale showed Webb was the registered owner of the property and was responsible for the transfer.
At his request, the client paid the full purchase price of R250,000 and transfer costs of R4,500 into Webb’s trust account on May 19 and 25 2017.
Webb did not effect the transfer and allegedly misappropriated R254,500.
In October 2017, a client wanted to buy two houses.
The client first paid R15,000 into Webb’s account, then, on Webb’s instructions, paid the remaining R320,000 into another account he nominated.
Webb again reportedly did not effect the transfer and allegedly misappropriated the R335,000.
A month later, a client bought a house from his mother in KwaNobuhle for R230,000.
The client successfully applied for a home loan at Standard Bank, which paid R230,000 into Webb’s bank account.
Webb allegedly misappropriated the R230,000.
In one of the more unusual cases, in 2014, a client approached Webb to help find a buyer for his Tamboville home, valued at R115,000.
Webb allegedly had him sign documents, but never informed him of a sale.
Four years later, the client discovered his house had been sold to a buyer for R70,000, with Webb allegedly pocketing the money.
In another case, in August 2017, a couple paid R127,000 — including transfer fees — into a Standard Bank account nominated by Webb.
He failed to process the transfer and allegedly misappropriated the funds.
The Herald
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