Dirty money as legal fees in Namibia and Zimbabwe: are lawyers laundering proceeds of crime?
| Date | 23 March 2020 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMLC-08-2019-0067 |
| Published date | 23 March 2020 |
| Pages | 315-326 |
| Author | Jorum Duri |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & Finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial compliance/regulation,Financial crime |
Dirty money as legal fees in Namibia
and Zimbabwe: are lawyers
laundering proceeds of crime?
Jorum Duri
Department of Criminal Justice and Procedure, University of the Western Cape,
Cape Town, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of thispaper is to explore the contentious issue whether lawyersbecome launderers
when they accept dirtymoney as legal fees. Lawyers represent criminal defendantswho may wish to pay for
their legal feeswith proceeds of their criminal activities. The paper analysesthe legal position of Namibia and
Zimbabwe on such tainted fees and proceeds to compare with the different position taken by the United
States.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper adopts a desk research methodology with reliance on
various sources suchas statutory laws, case laws, books, journal articlesand the internet. Its scope is limited
to issue and contentanalysis relating to the use of dirty money as legalfees.
Findings –The paper shows that lawyers become laundererswhen they accept dirty money as legal fees
with knowledge or suspicion of its origins. It concludes that the prohibition of dirty money as legal fees is
important in the fight against economiccrime in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Even though it is decriminalised in
the USA, the continuous prosecutionof lawyers for tainted fees shows that state authorities are aware of the
dangers of taintedlegal fees.
Originality/value –This paper adds to the few available literature on dirty money and legal fees. It
provides sound reasonswhy prohibition of tainted attorneys’fees adds muscle to the fight against economic
crime. No priorliterature is available on tainted legal fees in Namibiaand Zimbabwe specifically.
Keywords Attorneys, Dirty money, Legal fees, Lawyers, Launderers, Proceeds of crime, Namibia,
Zimbabwe, Money laundering
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Lawyers usually offer legalservices to persons facing criminal charges of corruption,fraud,
tax crimes, drug-related crimes or money laundering. Most persons implicated in such
crimes have the financial muscleto hire the best legal minds in the country. Lawyers have a
right to be paid for their services; but unfortunately,they may find themselves being offered
dirty money as legal fees (Hamman and Koen, 2017). In a simple money laundering case, a
criminal successfully cleansproceeds of crime by using it for any legitimate purposes. Also,
it is a criminal offence for any person to accept such dirty money with knowledge or
suspicion of its origins. However, such position is not simple with regards to the use of
tainted funds as legal fees. On the one hand, criminalisation of attorneys’fee raises serious
constitutional problemssuch as the right of the accused to legal representation and fair trial
and the lawyers’right to practice their profession. On the other hand, a key concept in
fighting financial crime is to deny criminals of any use or enjoyment of their dirty money.
Lawyers are regarded as professional enablers of financial crime (Levi,2015;Benson, 2016;
Tax Justice Network, 2017). Their involvement with proceeds of crime requires a close
scrutiny. There is a real risk of contamination of the entire financial system once dirty
Dirty money
as legal fees
315
Journalof Money Laundering
Control
Vol.23 No. 2, 2020
pp. 315-326
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/JMLC-08-2019-0067
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