Immigration lawyer sued by former employers over claims she poached clients

Paper documents, phones and computers were seized from the home of Shereen Shafaatulla which former employers Five Star International claim belong to them.

A LAWYER is being sued by her former employers over claims she poached clients from them.

Shereen Shafaatulla had her home searched and documents seized in an action by Glasgow-based immigration experts Five Star International.

Paper documents, phones and computers, which the firm claims belong to it, were seized by a court appointed Commissioner.

It’s believed Five Star is trying to recover thousands of pounds in fees allegedly charged to its clients by Shafaatulla.

The 42-year-old has been a lawyer for 18 years and had worked for Five Star advising clients on immigration cases and visa applications.

Shafaatulla, described in court as the first defender and an unnamed person, referred to as the second defender, were also accused of contaminating and tampering with evidence being searched for at the lawyer’s house in Glasgow on May 17 this year.

Representing Five Star, advocate Eoghainn MacLean said: “On the day the order was executed, an amount of material was recovered including papers, two mobile phones, three laptops, various iPads and a number of USB sticks. The pursuer (Five Star) had reason to believe – on the date of the execution – the first defender concealed and or tampered with some of those items, we believe that the second defender may also have been involved in that.”

Mr MacLean added: “The pursuer also has reason to believe the first and/or second defender concealed a second mobile, the first defender’s personal mobile, which was one of the devices to be recovered.”

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Mr MacLean said Five Star had evidence that the second concealed mobile was used by Shafaatulla to call one of Five Stars’ clients and that she should also be pursued for contempt of court.

Michael Hankinson, representing Shafaatulla, told the court the second mobile phone was given to the Commissioner and any calls had come from her own phone.

Five Star declined to comment when contacted by the Sunday Mail.

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