Mr Ziman said the former real estate mogul had to find work after being unemployed since the beginning of the year.

“There should not be an objection to her working as an estate agent for someone because, like all estate agents, she will not have signing powers on trust funds accounts. She depends on friends to get by and she has expenses to pay,” he said after Ms Machanik’s appearance at the South Gauteng High Court on fraud charges.

Ms Machanik’s criminal trial which includes her company, Wendy Machanik Properties and its chief financial officer Bruce Bernstein, was postponed until May 30, after her lawyers said she had run out of funds. But Mr Ziman said the funds had now been transferred and he would make representations to the National Prosecuting Authority.

Ms Machanik, Mr Bernstein and her company were charged in March with 119 counts, the main charge relating to an alleged conspiracy to commit fraud involving R28m. They were accused of misusing trust moneys.

Mr Ziman said the R28m reported as missing was a “myth”. “In fact the trust fund account has a surplus and money owed to the company has also been transferred,” Mr Ziman said.

The Estate Agency Affairs Board alleged that Ms Machanik transferred money from the trust account to the company’s account to keep the company afloat and pay her personal expenses.

Mr Ziman said the curators’ report showed that no money was missing from the trust account.