Bobroff's firm placed under curatorship
|Published
MISSING: Ronald Bobroff is alleged to have left suddenly for Australia. Picture: Stephanie Oosthuizen MISSING: Ronald Bobroff is alleged to have left suddenly for Australia. Picture: Stephanie Oosthuizen
Johannesburg - Personal injury lawyer Ronald Bobroff’s firm has been placed under curatorship after an urgent application at the High Court in Pretoria.
The embattled Bobroffs recently appeared in the high court in Pretoria over an application by the Law Society to have their case struck off the roll for overcharging accident victims for claims against the Road Accident Fund.
Last week it was revealed that Bobroff, his legal partner and son Darren, as well as Darren’s wife Lisa had sold off the law firm and left for Australia.
This came after the trio allegedly agreed with investigators to hand themselves over on Thursday morning. Bobroff’s own wife, Elaine, was arrested last week on fraud and money laundering charges, but released on R50 000 bail at the Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
On Thursday, the Law Society of the Northern Provinces (LSNP) released a statement noting serious concern with the Bobroffs' alleged misconduct and absconding to Australia.
According to LSNP president Anthony Millar, the organisation had applied to have Bobroff and his son struck off the roll of attorneys and appoint a curator “in order to protect the interests of the firm's clients”.
“The Law Society calls on Mr Ronald Bobroff and Mr Darren Bobroff, as senior attorneys, to honour their oaths of office and to return to South Africa and to face the charges against them,” said Millar.
Last week, The Star reported how the pair had allegedly sold off Ronald Bobroff & Partners to the lawyers who have been representing them in a civil matter. Their website has been taken down and replaced with a page indicating that the law firm “has been acquired” by Taitz & Skikne.
In the urgent application for curatorship of the business, the LSNP has said its own auditing report had revealed gross financial irregularities at the firm.
The court granted the curator-ship order after it was also revealed the firm had accrued almost R30-million over a number of bank accounts, and that the Road Accident Fund was set to pay a further R45m to the firm in the coming days.
The head of the LSNP’s members' affairs, Johan van Staden, was appointed as curator.
The Star