High-profile lawyer and his clerk mistress accused of swindling top law firm

UPDATE: A SUPREME Court judge has granted an urgent bid to freeze the assets of a top Brisbane lawyer amid allegations he and his law clerk took more than $160,000 from the firm.

Tim Meehan and his clerk, 24-year-old Xanthe Larcombe-Weate, have been sacked amid allegations they took more than $160,000 from their firm

A SUPREME Court judge has granted an urgent bid to freeze the assets of former Bosscher Lawyers solicitor Tim Meehan amid allegations he and his law clerk took more than $160,000 from the firm.

Michael Bosscher, of Bosscher Lawyers, appeared in the Supreme Court this morning where he sought a court order to ensure the assets of Mr Meehan and his wife couldn’t be “disposed”.

Justice Boddice granted the request, noting the nature of the allegations and the “limited number of assets” available.

“I am satisfied there is a basis to infer that if steps were not taken...there is a danger that there would not be assets available to meet a judgment,” he said.

Mr Bosscher told the court only four assets had been located.

“Of those, three of them are motor vehicles - which, by their nature, are very easy to dispose of,” he said.

“What we are seeking is the order be put in place for a short period of time to enable the (documents to be served) on both the respondents... this is effectively a stop-gap method.”

Justice Boddice said he was concerned as the home was in Mr Meehan’s wife’s name.

“That’s so,” Mr Bosscher said. “It is clear that some of the money misappropriated was deposited into (Ms Meehan’s) mortgage account...and it follows that some of the equity in that property is likely to be recovered in due course.”

The case will return on September 16.

Mr Meehan did not appear in court today.

The Queensland Law Society today confirmed it will be carrying out an audit of Bosscher Lawyers’ trust accounts in the wake of allegations involving former solicitor Tim Meehan.

In a statement released this afternoon, QLS president Bill Potts said the firm had alerted the society to the allegations and had been highly cooperative as part of the investigation.

He said there was no reason to believe “any of the firm’s clients had been adversely affected”.

Mr Potts also confirmed Mr Meehan handed in his practising certificate last month.

OVERNIGHT REPORT:ONE of Queensland’s most prominent criminal lawyers and his law clerk mistress have been sacked amid allegations they took more than $160,000 from their firm.

Tim Meehan, who represented Daniel Morcombe’s killer, used his clerk, 24-year-old Xanthe Larcombe-Weate, to take clients’ money and deposit it in his own accounts, it has been alleged.

Paperwork filed in the Supreme Court yesterday alleges the pair created fake invoices, offered to meet clients for late-night cash drops and collected money left hidden under office keyboards during their time at Bosscher Lawyers.

The documents, filed by the firm, seek to freeze the assets of Mr Meehan and his wife – including a house in Pullenvale, two BMWs and a Mazda CX9 wagon – after terminating his employment on August 16. A civil hearing is scheduled for today.

Neither Mr Meehan nor Ms Larcombe-Weate have been charged in relation to the missing money.

Mr Meehan’s sudden departure – at the height of his career – has been the subject of much speculation within the legal community in past weeks.

Ms Larcombe-Weate, who worked for the firm as a clerk and had recently completed her law degree, was sacked on the same day as Mr Meehan. She had planned to be admitted as a practising lawyer in October.

Mr Meehan has since surrendered his practising certificate and the court documents reveal he “admitted to stealing from the practice” in a meeting with his former employer.

According to the documents, investigations at the firm revealed $164,000 of client money had been deposited into bank accounts associated with Mr Meehan over the past year.

A further $11,000 had allegedly been put into Ms Larcombe-Weate’s account.

“It has become readily apparent and easily documented that theft from the practice has occurred,” the document reads.

“The scale of the theft is significant and easily traceable through the information and material gathered.

“If I were appearing on behalf of either at a sentence, I would submit that ‘the theft was blatant, unsophisticated and was always going to be discovered’.”

The pair used work email accounts and text messages linked to an iMessage program on one of the firm’s laptops to allegedly organise the taking of the money. In a series of text messages, filed to the court, Mr Meehan instructed Ms Larcombe-Weate to deposit clients’ money into a series of accounts – in one case, into the account of his unknowing wife.

In a text sent to his mistress on April 1, 2016, Mr Meehan provided the account details for a H Meehan.

Tim Meehan’s clerk Xanthe Larcombe-Weate.

“OK honey, are you sure you want me to put it all in the bank? There’s quite a bit,” Ms Larcombe-Weate texted back.

Mr Meehan replied: “Only $5k.”

In an email sent on August 4, Mr Meehan instructed his lover to provide a client with new bank account details – his own – in which to make a payment.

“And tell him those bank details are Bosscher Lawyers general account. Tell him now moved to CBA (Commonwealth Bank),” he wrote.

“And if he wants to bring cash, it’s $4k otherwise it’s $6600. And I can send him a receipt for the $4k.”

Mr Meehan told Ms Larcombe-Weate to tell the client: “If you have the cash I’m happy to meet you somewhere this evening to collect it.”

Ms Larcombe-Weate texted the client, telling him: “Just need to clear the bill with Tim. If you can’t make it today I’ll send you the firm’s new bank details and you can pay the full sum into that tonight ... Boss’ rules unfortunately. Thanks.”

In another email, sent on August 11, Ms Larcombe-Weate tells Mr Meehan a client has dropped $1000 in cash into the office.

“David dropped one of (sic) this afternoon,” she wrote.

“Is under your keyboard.”

The text messages included sexually explicit content where the couple organised to have secret liaisons in Mr Meehan’s office during work hours.

At other times, Mr Meehan would send abusive messages if his mistress did not complete her work fast enough.

According to the firm’s investigation, clients were not affected.

Mr Meehan told The Courier-Mail last night he was “not in a position to provide you with a comment at this stage”.

Mr Meehan began working for Michael Bosscher in 2000, the year following his graduation from Griffith University.

He represented Brett Peter Cowan – the man who abducted and murdered Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe – in what was one of Queensland’s highest-profile criminal trials. He has also acted for the Morayfield grandmother accused of the attempted murder of two of her step-grandchildren, Angry Gang member and armed robber Wade Bartz and former Bandido Luke Saggus.

The Supreme Court document said both Mr Meehan and Ms Larcombe-Weate could be the subject of a complaint to the Queensland Police Service for aggravated fraud and complaints to the Legal Services Commission.

Information could also be passed on to the Legal Practitioners Admission Board.

The Queensland Law Society has been informed of the allegations.

Michael Bosscher is said to be devastated.