One of Manchester's top criminal lawyers has dragged his estranged wife into court after she allegedly withdrew £28,000 from a joint account.

Now Nadeem Ullah, 49, who owns Chorlton-based Abbey Solicitors, has been granted an injunction preventing the mother of his two children from selling a property she owns while he embarks on a legal battle to retrieve the disputed money.

At the High Court in Manchester, his ex-partner Anbreen Nadeem, 47, pleaded poverty and slammed her wealthy husband for 'dragging me down here'.

After a courtroom character assassination of her watching husband in which she alleged he was a 'very odd man' who was 'not bothered' about their children, a judge agreed to impose a 'freezing order' on a property she owns until the row over company account she emptied is resolved.

Her ex alleges Mrs Nadeem, who was listed as company secretary for nine years until September 2018, 'dishonestly transferred or procured the transfer of money' totalling £27,945 from a company account. She denies the claim.

It's the latest legal battle involving the pair, who have two children together, following an acrimonious split last year.

The estranged couple were last in court in April in a row about the ownership of £2m mansion in Hale Barns which was supposed to end up as their family home.

But following their split, Nadeem Ullah claimed that he and Mrs Nadeem have 'never been lawfully married to each other' - although the pair celebrated a Muslim religious marriage (a nikah) in Manchester in 1999.

For her part, Mrs Nadeem says he had always led her to believe their marriage was legal and valid in the UK and that they lived together as husband and wife until he left the family home in April 2018.

(Image: Ian Macklin estate agents)

Mr Ullah wanted to sell the five-bed property on Carrwood in Hale Barns but Mrs Nadeem said it wasn't his alone to sell, and alleged Land Registry documents were forged to make it appear she had agreed to sign away joint ownership. Her former partner denied the allegation.

However, Mr Ullah persuaded a judge to allow him to complete a £1.8m quick cash sale to a buyer by the end of April.

One sale had already fallen through - United defender Marcos Rojo pulled out of a deal after arsonists torched the kitchen.

Mr Ullah had urged the court to order his former partner to drop her attempt to block the sale of the house and asked that she be forced to pay court costs of his application.

The court ruled that he could sell the house on the proviso that he pay £1.1m into an 'escrow' account, where the cash is held by a third party until the 'forgery' dispute was resolved.

It is believed the house has now been sold and the formal forgery allegation has been withdrawn from the legal proceedings. The M.E.N. has been told the decision to withdraw the forgery allegation was made 'reluctantly because of dire financial circumstances'.

An acquaintance said: "She had no choice."

(Image: MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS)

The pair were back at the High Court in Manchester in front of Judge Mark Halliwell on Tuesday where Mr Ullah was seeking an injunction against his ex.

The judge agreed to a 'freezing order' which means she cannot sell a property she owns in Moss Side said to be worth £70,000, or mortgage the property for more than £20,000 until their disagreement about the emptied account had been resolved.

Sitting beside her daughter and representing herself in court, Mrs Nadeem told the hearing at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre she was 'not a woman of means' while she claimed her ex was worth at least £5m.

She admitted she had all but emptied the account but insisted she had done nothing wrong and had spent the money 'on the children', using the funds to buy food, a car and to repay loans.

She told the court she believed her ex had used the account to divert money from his law firm without other directors knowing.

The judge told her he could not determine this on the evidence and that it would be a matter for the trial judge.

(Image: Ian Macklin estate agents)

She said of her husband: "I just feel he needs to be a little bit more compassionate. He's a very, very rich man. He's dragging me down here for this amount."

Mrs Nadeem said she 'knows what's going to happen next', namely that her husband was going to 'put in a lot of claims and paperwork'.

"I just feel he needs to be a little bit more lenient, and at least care for me and his two children," she told the court.

(Image: Ian Macklin estate agents)

The judge pointed out that her husband was in court and that 'hopefully he will take into account what you say'.

Mrs Nadeem denies an allegation that she 'dishonestly transferred or procured the transfer of money' totalling £27,945.

Abbey Solicitors, of which Mr Ullah is the owner and sole director, sought the freezing order to prevent her 'dissipating those sums'.

Some seven transactions were made from the account 'at the direction of Mrs Nadeem into accounts held by her', it is claimed.

She alleges it was a 'general account' which has now been closed down but she admits she had drawn out and spent 'almost the entirety of the money', the court heard.

She had spent £2,000 on dental surgery, a further £2,000 on flights to Turkey for her and her daughter, £10,000 to repay an advance from people in Pakistan and £3,000 to repay a car loan, it was said.

Although she had spent the money, the court heard she still has an unmortgaged £70,000 property, thought to be in Moss Side.

The judge said, having read all the evidence and Mrs Nadeem's affidavit, he was satisfied Mr Ullah had a case which could go to trial.

He said he was also satisfied that she had assets in the shape of a property.

The judge made an order restraining Mrs Nadeem from selling the property until the conclusion of the trial or until further order.

He said she would be allowed to mortgage the property but only to a value of £20,000 as long as she first notified Mr Ullah's solicitors.

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Mr Ullah's barrister Steven McGarry asked the judge to award costs against Mrs Nadeem as she had 'taken significant steps to avoid engagement'.

Mrs Nadeem told the court she had been out of the country and said she did not open her door to anyone who had not got an appointment.

She said her children were 'really really scared' and would not open the door to anyone after dark.

She went on that she was not a solicitor while her lawyer husband had 'kept me away from work' and 'never ever let me go into the office'.

"He never let the children go to the office. He's a very odd man," she said.

She said 'their father was not bothered with them at all', adding: "He's not a good father figure overall."

The judge told her it was 'in your interests to reach an accommodation between you otherwise costs will get out of control'.

Mrs Nadeem told the judge she had not previously engaged with her husband because 'it's always abusive' but that she had confirmed to him she would be coming to court.

The judge told her that if she breached the order he had made she could be held in contempt of court and could end up in prison.

Mrs Nadeem said that members of her family, told about the court hearing, already thought she was going to prison.

She said she was 'very very scared of coming here today'.

Neither Mr Ullah nor Mrs Nadeem would comment following the hearing when approached by the M.E.N.

The estranged couple have never lived in the property on Carrwood whose ownership they disputed. They shared a family home at Warburton Close in Hale Barns, until he moved out, following the collapse of their relationship last year.

Mr Ullah qualified as a solicitor in 1998 and launched Abbey in 2003. The firm employs 43 people and has assets worth £1.4m, according to the latest published accounts.