A Saudi man was taken aback to discover that the lawyer entrusted with defending his brother in court was not licensed to perform the legal services for which he had been hired; but was instead a Yemeni domestic worker posing as a Saudi national. To make matters worse, the Saudi victim later discovered that the 58-year-old Yemeni man had previously been convicted for the same offenses, including obtaining forged documents allowing him to provide legal services. Saudi national Muhammad Alwan said that two years ago his brother became entangled in a legal battle. Seeking a lawyer on his brother's behalf, Alwan fell upon the offices of the Yemeni. A fee of SR45,000 was agreed between the two, SR25,000 of which Alwan gave as a downpayment. Soon, however, the bogus lawyer started to procrastinate on the pretext that he was too busy to attend to the case, saying that he had delegated it to another lawyer working under him. Following frequent calls from his client, the legal charlatan then switched off his telephone, and when Alwan appeared at his offices, he learnt that the Yemeni was abroad on business. After a year-and-a-half of trying to make contact, Alwan discovered that the man had previously been charged with forgery and impersonation and that he had been practicing law illegally. Alwan said he intended to file a complaint against the man with the relevant authorities.
