8 November 2024
How a suspended attorney continues to practise as a magistrate raises questions about the integrity of the justice system. Illustration: Lisa Nelson
Questions have been raised as to how an attorney, who was once an accused in a high-profile corruption and money laundering matter, and who was suspended from practice on allegations of misappropriation of trust money, became and remains a magistrate in KwaZulu-Natal.
Magistrate Ian Blose is on the bench at the Umhlali Periodic Court, sitting at KwaDukuza.
His name recently came into the spotlight when he agreed to be interviewed by Interpol agents relating to an extradition case in which he was presiding over.
This resulted in him recusing himself from the matter, when it was part-heard.
Lawyers for Indian national Rahul Jaiswal, who has been in custody for more than a year and is wanted in the USA on charges of conspiracy to deal in pharmaceuticals, have now lodged a formal complaint against Blose with the Magistrates Commission.
GroundUp has seen a copy of the complaint. Jaiswal’s attorney Wesley Rogers confirmed that it was forwarded to the commission on Thursday.
Blose was arrested in 2010 and charged with money-laundering in the so-called “Amigos” corruption case involving massive provincial government spending on water purification and self-generating oxygen plants sourced from Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi’s Intaka Holding.
Among the initial arrests were ANC heavyweights Peggy Nkonyeni, Mike Mabuyakhulu, and former KZN treasury head Sipho Shabalala.
It was alleged that Savoi paid a R1-million “sweetener” to the ANC in return for contacts worth R144-million.
Blose’s involvement was said to be that a law firm, of which he was a director, had received the money into its trust account and had made payments from it on the instruction of Shababala.
The charges against Nkonyeni and Mabuyakhulu were withdrawn in 2012 in a controversy which later became the focus of an inquiry before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
The charges against Blose were withdrawn at the same time.
In 2022, Shabalala was convicted of corruption and money laundering and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Earlier this year, Savoi entered into a plea bargain agreement with the state, pleading guilty to four counts of fraud and six of corruption. He was sentenced to a fine of R5-million and ten years imprisonment, suspended for five years.
From questions GroundUp posed to the Legal Practice Council, and documents annexed to Jaiswel’s complaint to the commission, it appears that Blose opened up a new law practice.
A client complained to the LPC that he had handled the sale of her property for R460,000, but she only received R200,000.
An investigating committee was established in 2020. According to the LPC, the inspection could not be held at Blose’s office because “he advised that he was in arrears with his rental and the landlord had locked him out”.
He failed to produce any bank statements or accounting records. He also advised that he had been acting as a magistrate.
He conceded that he was aware that there was an amount of R240,000 still owing to the client.
The investigating committee reported that “Mr Blose has abandoned his practice and has failed to give any written notice to the LPC of his absence from the firm”.
The LPC sought, and secured a High Court order suspending him from practice in November 2022.
GroundUp has established that Blose was appointed to act for the first time in July 2017. He was permanently appointed in 2020.
At that time, prospective magistrates were required, in their application forms, to answer if they had ever been found guilty in a criminal court. This has now been amended to ask whether the applicant has ever been charged in a criminal court and to provide full details.
A source within the Department of Justice said because of the sheer volume of applications for acting and permanent appointments, reliance was placed on the chief magistrates to ensure that the candidates were fit and proper “because they best know the attorneys in their divisions”.
LPC provincial director Pearl Mfusi told GroundUp: “I am able to further confirm that despite a complaint having been lodged against him, he would have been entitled to the Certificate of Good Standing prior to a resolution being taken by the Council to institute suspension proceedings.
“The LPC is not permitted to withhold a Certificate of Good Standing on the basis of there being a complaint against a legal practitioner but can only do so when proceedings have been instituted in court.”
She said at the time of his suspension he had already been appointed as a magistrate, a fact which only came to the LPC’s attention late last year.
Asked why the LPC had not taken further action to strike Blose from the roll, she said that could only be pursued if the complaint had been proven and the investigation into his trust affairs had been completed.
“There is no risk to the public as he is not practising. We cannot comment on his being a magistrate save for the fact that we are in communication with the Magistrates Commission and have provided them with the relevant information.”
In correspondence with Rogers, Durban chief magistrate Eric Ngubane confirmed that he was aware of Blose’s 2020 suspension but directed Rogers to the LPC for further details.
Approached for comment, Blose said the criminal charges had been withdrawn “way back in 2012” and he had disclosed this to the commission in his application and during his interview.
“I did address the allegation of abandoning my practice with the LPC and informed that I closed down the practice and called on them to pay whatever client claims as they obtained a suspension order and I could not have access to the trust bank account,” he said.
“For the record, I was appointed as magistrate in 2020. I find it mind boggling to now hear of a complaint regarding my appointment some five years years after appointment and believe it is full of ulterior motives by certain individuals.”
He denied any wrongdoing in the extradition matter.
In Jaiswal’s complaint to the commission, he claims that during the extradition proceedings, Blose commented that he was not protected by the Constitution because he is a foreign national.
This, Jaiswal wrote, was a shocking misunderstanding of the law.
This was compounded by the fact that Blose had agreed to be interviewed by the Interpol investigators and had adjourned the hearing for this to take place, prejudicing him and his legal team.
He said instead of agreeing to the interview, Blose should have refused and have given him protection against the “abusive conduct of the state”, which sought the postponement in order to facilitate the interview.
This led to Blose’s recusal because he had become a witness in his own matter.
“I require an investigation into the conduct of Mr Blose as well as his actual appointment as a magistrate. I am of the view that he may not be fit and proper to hold the office and request that if my allegations are confirmed, that he be removed from office to restore the public faith in the judiciary.”
The commission did not respond to a request for comment.
Mbezeleki Benjamin, researcher at Judges Matter, said at this stage there was not enough information to assess whether Blose’s appointment was appropriate or not.
“For the sake of protecting the integrity of the judiciary, we would urge the commission to provide full details on this issue.”