A state marshal has apprehended and jailed Nickola Cunha, the divorce lawyer who was disbarred after she made antisemitic claims about a conspiracy among judges and then was made the subject of an arrest order after failing to appear and provide an accounting of client funds.

Cunha was taken into custody at a restaurant in Wallingford on Friday night and transported to the state prison for women in East Lyme, where she was to be held for an appearance at Superior Court in Middletown on Monday morning.

She was dining with her husband, Luis, at Christo’s Restaurant and Bar at 7:30 p.m. when Wallingford police assisted the marshal with the civil arrest. Luis Cunha was charged with interfering with the arrest and later released on a $5,000 bond.

Cunha was disbarred in January, while representing a party in an exceptionally bitter divorce, for making antisemitic claims that a judge and lawyers were profiting from rulings and appointments to lucrative consulting positions in the case.

Judge Thomas Moukawsher, who disbarred Cunha, issued a civil order for her arrest in April after she failed to comply with his instructions to close her law practice and account for client funds in her custody. Among other things, Cunha allegedly withdrew $30,000 from a client account in violation of Moukawsher’s order.

Also last week, the state judicial office responsible for investigating complaints against lawyers filed papers in court saying that a limited audit of Cunha’s office showed other alleged irregularities in the handling of client funds, including failing to distribute a settlement in a timely fashion and withdrawing client settlement money without authorization.

In telephone conversations in the week before her apprehension, Cunha denied holding antisemitic beliefs and said her handling of clients funds is proper and easily explained.

“I’m not saying anything against the Jewish religion,” she said. “I have a lot of friends who are Jewish. I shared office space with a husband and wife that are Jewish pretty much the majority of my career.

“But just like any other religion, if it was a Catholic judge and everyone was Catholic for the other side and all the decisions were being swayed in one way, I would point it out. Because it is a pattern of conduct. Now whether that is the driving factor, I don’t know. And I told the court that I didn’t know that. I never accused the Jewish faith of this, you know, corrupt theory.”

Cunha said any withdrawals she made from client funds were to cover fees for legal work. And she said any client files she failed to submit to the court under Moukawsher’s instruction to close her office were withheld at the request of the clients.

She said she believes she is being unjustly punished for having made a charge of judicial corruption that she believes should be investigated.

“I will continue on the path on which I’ve been going and I will continue to expose the corruption in the judicial branch, which results in children and domestic violence victims continuing to be harmed,” she said.

“Enough is enough. These judges need to stop protecting each other. And what I litigated was 100 percent what I said it was. So judge Moukawsher could enter whatever memorandum of law that he wants to. But at the end of the day if anyone looked at the exhibits and the transcripts, it is very clear what happened, what was happening and why it happened.

“I was set up, and I didn’t see it coming. It was like I got hit by a Mack truck. So here I am after 22-and-one-half years of practice and I have been screwed over above and beyond.”

Moukawsher issued a capias or civil arrest order for Cunha last month after she had not complied with his instruction to appear in court to explain her withdrawal of client funds and her failure to turn over client information to a trustee appointed to close her office.

It was unclear what will happen when Cunha is brought to court in Middletown on Monday.