Durban Advocate Morris Ndlela – who allegedly pocketed more than R200 000 when a property sale fell through – has apparently gone rogue after promising a full refund to the buyer.

According to a Sunday Tribune report, Sbonelo Mlaba (35), from Umlazi, said he trusted Ndlela and did not anticipate any ‘fraudulent acts’ when he transferred R220 000 to Ndlela to purchase a property.

A few weeks after the money was transferred, Mlaba received a call from Ndlela who informed him that the owner of the property had no knowledge of the property agent, therefore he would not be approving the sale.

‘I had also started being suspicious because I had seen the property listed as sold. The agent confirmed it had been sold by someone else to a different owner and that I would need to approach Ndlela for a refund,’ Mlaba said.

The parties agreed in July last year that an amount of R220 000 would be returned within 32 working days, but Ndlela allegedly did not honour his promise and only made a number of smaller payments.

When the outstanding balance reached R103 000, Mlaba attempted to lay a criminal charge but was told by his local police station that it would not be possible as the money had been deposited willingly.

‘I have now approached the Legal Practice Council and so far their investigations have revealed that Ndlela does not have a registered trust account and that he should not have taken the funds from me. Once they are done with their investigation I will be in a position to open a case,’ he said.

Full Sunday Tribune report