PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Javaid Perwaiz, the former OB-GYN convicted of performing unnecessary, and sometimes life-altering, surgeries, is trying to go back to court, alleging that two of his attorneys, Emily Munn and Lawrence Woodward, stole millions of dollars from him over the course of his trial and subsequent incarceration.
Perwaiz, who is serving a 59-year sentence, said he handed over up to $3 million “in money and chattels” to the attorneys, according to court documents. Those funds were supposed to be used to pay his bills while he was incarcerated and included $450,000 for their legal services.
As part of his sentence handed down in May 2021, Perwaiz was ordered to pay $18.56 million in restitution and forfeit $2.276 million to the federal government.
In July 2024, Perwaiz filed a motion in federal court for an accounting of what he owed and how much his attorneys had turned over.
A response filed by the US Attorney’s Office in September noted that the sale of Perwaiz’s assets, along with his seized accounts, totaled $1.288 million, a sum that was counted against both his forfeiture judgement and restitution.
“At present, because of the restoration, the defendant’s forfeiture balance is $987,786.90 and his restitution judgement balance is $17,083,804.19,” it reads.
On Oct. 14, Perwaiz mailed his handwritten reply from a federal prison in another state, alleging his former attorneys had refused to account for the rest of the “$2.8 million to $3 million” he had given them.
“The United States has responded with an accounting showing that, of the $2.35 million to $2.55 million in excess of legal fees in Woodward and Munn’s possession, they have only turned over to the court roughly $250,000.00 to the United States,” it read.
“Perwaiz would like to know the disposition of the other $2.1 million to $2.3 million he gave defense counsel and asks this court to order further proceedings in this matter for that purpose, including that Woodward and Munn be ordered to appear and provide an accounting,” it continued.
Munn and Woodward filed a reply in December, arguing that Perwaiz was trying to mislead the court. They said they kept detailed records of the money and adhered to the Rules of Professional Responsibility — as they both had for decades as attorneys.
“The current balances in both attorney’s trust accounts on Perwaiz’s behalf are zero,” the filing read. “Counsel earned fees from the trust balance throughout litigation, paid the costs of litigation, and kept Perwaiz apprised of the same during the course of their representation. Counsel kept no additional fees beyond that earned pursuant to the terms of the engagement and adamantly denies any allegation on the contrary.”
The document goes on to explain that the pair handled the maintenance and sale of his assets, and kept him informed the whole time. After the trial, they turned the property and money over to the government.
“Counsel is unaware of the basis for Perwaiz’ assertion that his counsel obtained ‘$2.8 million to $3 million dollars in monies and chattels,'” it read. “Perwaiz never provided such money to counsel.”
On Feb. 5, Perwaiz mailed another letter to the court. This time he was asking a judge to make his former attorneys explain why they shouldn’t be held in contempt for filing a false report.
He noted that while their fees were documented, the proceeds from some of his high-dollar assets weren’t. He listed several: $8,000 for a 2008 Mercedes S600, $40,000 for a 2014 Mercedes S550, just under $80,000 for 25 watches and 740 grams of gold (valued at up to $66,331).
He also requested the return of records from his former businesses, which he said would prove his claims.
Decisions on these motions have not been posted to the online federal court system as of the posting of this story.
