Lawyers Weekly – Australia
As part of an unsuccessful Fidelity Fund claim, a former franchisee of an Eagle Boys pizza store who allegedly blew settlement and LawCover payments on drugs and gambling has accused his lawyer of misappropriating just under $95,000.
Eco-Pact and former sole director Brian Meknas accused lawyer Jacqueline Saldaneri of allegedly misappropriating the money he transferred into her trust account in an attempt to keep it out of the hands of creditors who were “trying to bankrupt him”.
The allegations were aired in several proceedings as part of Eco-Pact’s attempt to recoup the allegedly misappropriated funds from the Fidelity Fund and the NSW Law Society.
Eco-Pact was the franchisee of an Eagle Boys store and retained Saldaneri for an insurance claim after the store burnt down in 2013. The claim against QBE was settled sometime in 2017.
She was also asked to assist with proceedings arising from Eco-Pact’s financial difficulties and Meknas’ now-annulled bankruptcy.
Meknas claimed that after it became clear the Eagle Boys franchisor had obtained an order for substituted proceedings against him, Saldaneri allegedly advised him to “continue” to avoid service of the court and pay funds into her trust account to keep it safe and secure legal fees.
Meanwhile, Eco-Pact received a sum of $230,000 from LawCover, of which about $150,000 remained after payment of legal fees.
Its solicitor, Mark Fraser, said Meknas used the LawCover money and the QBE settlement sum on “personal expenses, purchase of drugs for his personal use, legal costs for the defence of charges brought against him for drug-related offences, and gambling”.
He was incarcerated as a result of drug offences in 2022.
