Another case has emerged involving lawyer Zunnavar Saleem, who has previously been in hot water for unlawful use of a public notary seal issued by Bar Council of Maldives (BCM), whereas this time, he is accused of defrauding a client.
Zunnavar, who was previously fined by BCM for unlawful use of a public notary seal and a criminal conviction for using forged certificates, is currently accused of defrauding a female client. In this regard, Zunnvar had taken payment from the client under an agreement to provide legal services after which he had ghosted her.  
The client subsequently filed a case with the Civil Court, which has delivered the ruling in the case, ordering Zunnavar to pay MVR 6,000 to the client. This includes MVR 5,000 in advance payment and MVR 1,000 charged to write a letter.
Although Zunnavar responded in the case, he was not present during the hearing held to deliver the judgment. As such, the judgment was delivered in his absence.
The Civil Court had concluded that Zunnavar had violated the agreement with his client and ordered the repayment of MVR 6,000 within 10 days. The case was presided over by Judge Haafiza Abdul Sattar.
Notably, records show that Zunnavar defrauded clients on multiple occasions. A similar case of defrauding of a client, a woman from a Laamu Atoll island, had come to light during a High Court hearing sometime back.
“I have spent a lot of money on this, spending over MVR 100,000. I am a poor person. I cannot hire a lawyer every time. We hired two individuals after spending a lot of money. They defrauded us. They said the case has been appealed to High Court. But we have learned it was never lodged at High Court. He has stolen lakhs in money from us. The lawyers we hired were Zunnavar Saleem and his wife,” the women said in court.
According to records, BCM has fined Zunnavar by a significant sum on a prior occasion and also temporarily suspended his license.
Zunnavar has previously been in hot water for submitting a fake LLB certificate to obtain his lawyer’s permit. This was uncovered by an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigation in 2013. However, he completed his degree and subsequently took oath as a lawyer in 2020.