LSB recoups payments from defaulting casino solicitor

Vic Supremo orders hapless former solicitor to compensate the Fidelity Fund for payouts to victims ... When will the indignities cease?

The Vic Supreme Court has ordered former solicitor and gambling addict Gabriel Werden to fork-up $637,000 to the Legal Services Board.

This followers Werden's conviction for tickling the trust account that saddled him with a stretch of porridge.

Justice Breach on Tuesday (March 15) found that Werden, who did not contest the findings relating to 11 breaches of trust, was liable to pay the Legal Services Board, which compensated seven victims of the former solly's defalcations between 1998 and 2001.

In October 2006 Werden was sentenced to five years and 10 months imprisonment (with a three years and four months on the bottom) after having pleaded guilty to various counts of theft, obtaining a financial advantage by deception and having a deficiency in his solicitor's trust account.

This included 11 matters of theft in relation to Mary Soul, Michael Di Pietro, Norrene Johnston, Elias Raji, Michael Semaan, Robert Semaan and Morris Koury.

Beach dismissed the first of the Legal Services Board's claims under s.86 of the Sentencing Act, as the application to re-coup the compo was judged not to be as soon as practicably possible after Werden's conviction.

However, in the breach of trust proceeding the board was successful in obtaining orders for the recovery of $637,343.57 that it had paid following claims by victims on the fidelity fund.

Werden said the proceeding was statute barred, he pleaded laches and that his mother had already paid $350,000 to the claimants.

The court observed that he had offered no substantiating evidence whatsoever.

See judgment

Reporter: Alex Angel-Graham