From a lawyer who commissioned a cocaine drop-off during a Law Society dinner to a solicitor jailed for bribing witnesses to the tune of $260,000: Behold these dodgy legal tales
From a lawyer who commissioned a cocaine drop-off during a Law Society dinner to a solicitor jailed for bribing witnesses to the tune of $260,000, NZ Lawyer brings you a selection of the dodgiest solicitors from around the world.
Phone records revealed that Ditta had a made a total of nine calls to Scarborough that night, and although he denied using cocaine, the drug was found on his credit cards, wallet and in his hair. It was subsequently uncovered that Ditta had been attempting to illegally obtain information about the police investigation into the drug lord in order to feed it back into the criminal gang. He was jailed for three years.
The lawyer’s client, Yasar Hussain, was facing jail for fraud after using 8,000 mocked-up cans to convince Middle Eastern businessmen that he owned the rights to market an energy drink. Although he didn’t own the rights to anything, it was enough to attract almost $600,000 in investments.
Police then caught his criminal solicitor Iqba at an airport in the UK with a memory stick that contained footage of him paying more than $260,000 in bribes to four of Hussain’s victims.
Iqbal was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and jailed for five years. His client did a runner on the first day of the trial and is still missing.
The lawyer was an associate at major US firm Crowell & Morning from 2007-2011, and during that time he was also illegally squirrelling away significant coin from two of the firm’s biggest clients.
He clearly saw the benefit in having a diverse investment portfolio, and the money was put to work in a range of projects including investments in chip manufacturers and dry cleaners, and eating five-star quality meals and seeing strippers.
He faced up to 12 years in prison.
She then used this information to get a whole raft of fraudulent mortgages spanning six elite properties in Stratford. All up, she managed to make about $2.5 million.
Her own brief labelled Quinlivan as “clueless” before her sentencing. “Not all lawyers are intelligent. This is not some scheme hatched by a master criminal, but one person, rather clueless,” he said.
The full-length versions of these stories in appear on legal website Roll on Friday.
- Lawyer’s special delivery during Law Society dinner
Phone records revealed that Ditta had a made a total of nine calls to Scarborough that night, and although he denied using cocaine, the drug was found on his credit cards, wallet and in his hair. It was subsequently uncovered that Ditta had been attempting to illegally obtain information about the police investigation into the drug lord in order to feed it back into the criminal gang. He was jailed for three years.
- Lawyer bribes witnesses with hundreds of thousands of dollars
The lawyer’s client, Yasar Hussain, was facing jail for fraud after using 8,000 mocked-up cans to convince Middle Eastern businessmen that he owned the rights to market an energy drink. Although he didn’t own the rights to anything, it was enough to attract almost $600,000 in investments.
Police then caught his criminal solicitor Iqba at an airport in the UK with a memory stick that contained footage of him paying more than $260,000 in bribes to four of Hussain’s victims.
Iqbal was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and jailed for five years. His client did a runner on the first day of the trial and is still missing.
- Lawyer steals $13 million to invest in strippers and chips
The lawyer was an associate at major US firm Crowell & Morning from 2007-2011, and during that time he was also illegally squirrelling away significant coin from two of the firm’s biggest clients.
He clearly saw the benefit in having a diverse investment portfolio, and the money was put to work in a range of projects including investments in chip manufacturers and dry cleaners, and eating five-star quality meals and seeing strippers.
He faced up to 12 years in prison.
- “Clueless” lawyer jailed for mortgage fraud
She then used this information to get a whole raft of fraudulent mortgages spanning six elite properties in Stratford. All up, she managed to make about $2.5 million.
Her own brief labelled Quinlivan as “clueless” before her sentencing. “Not all lawyers are intelligent. This is not some scheme hatched by a master criminal, but one person, rather clueless,” he said.
The full-length versions of these stories in appear on legal website Roll on Friday.