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An attorney practising in Whiteriver appeared in court this week on charges of defrauding two clients in Road Accident Fund (RAF) cases. Daniel Themba Mabunda (50) was arrested on Tuesday and released on R5000 bail after facing charges of fraud and theft of trust money.
Mabunda, operating Mabunda (D&M) Inc. Attorneys, allegedly mishandled RAF payouts intended for two separate clients in 2021. In the first case, Mabunda secured a RAF settlement of R858,968 for his injured client, but only disbursed R486,146 to them – pocketing the remainder.
Attorneys are legally limited to deducting 20% in fees from RAF payouts. However, Mabunda far exceeded this cap. In another RAF case the same year, the accused secured a R468,366 settlement but failed to forward any funds to the client.
Instead, Mabunda is accused of using portions of both claims that should have gone to his clients for his personal benefit without their consent. The Commercial Crime Investigation Unit arrested Mabunda this week. The accused was released on bail by the Whiteriver Magistrate Court on Tuesday, 12 December. The matter was postponed to 23 January 2024 for further investigation.