Nigerian-born solicitor Festus Ibi has been accused of professional misconduct by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) following complaints by clients of a firm at which he worked.
The Sunday World reported that the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal heard claims that Ibi breached the Solicitors act for allegedly acting as an agent and thereby allowing a number of unqualified persons to pose as legal professionals.
He is also accused of failing to have professional indemnity insurance while working at the business.
The case came about after 5 clients of Ibi who are all foreign nationals made complaints after they had sought legal advice in respect of issues such as family reunification and work permits.
Ibi denies any wrongdoing and is claiming to have been misled himself.
The Law Society of Ireland issued a warning about the firm saying that it was not a firm of solicitors. The firm in question is currently subject to separate legal proceedings.
The tribunal heard a client of the firm Ibi worked at who is from Zimbabwe paid 1,600 to the firm in attempts to seek family reunification to Ireland.
The woman said it was her belief that she was engaging the services of a genuine solicitor in the matter and was left feeling fooled having been unable to succeed in having her family member/s brought to Ireland.
Another man from Malawi paid 1,000 to the firm in hopes of obtaining a work permit to allow his brother to come to Ireland.
Ibi’s defence counsel argued that his client was only newly qualified at the time of the alleged incidents and was himself duped.
He also claimed that Ibi had only been named by one of the five complainants in their original complaints.
However the prosecution argued that Ibi had knowingly worked alongside a woman who presented herself as a solicitor at the firm from August 2019 until the premises was raided by Gardaí the following October.
A decision in respect of the case has been reserved in order to facilitate careful consideration of each individual complaint.