Following the arrest of a San Fernando attorney on suspicion of land fraud yesterday, head of the T&T Police Service’s (TTPS) Fraud Squad is warning citizens to be vigilant when buying land.
Snr Supt Totaram Dookie said land fraud was an emerging trend in T&T.
Earlier in the day, at around 6 am, Dookie, ASP Ken Ghisyawan, Sgt Francis, Cpls Tony, Bassarath and WPC Lazarus went to the attorney’s office and spent several hours questioning him before he was taken to the San Fernando Police Administration building. The investigation which led to his arrest has been ongoing for the past year.
The attorney was expected to be taken to the Port-of-Spain Fraud Squad office yesterday evening. Dookie said Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard will have to give the go-ahead to lay charges after reviewing the file.
“One of the emerging trends in fraud in T&T is that of fraud associated with real estate and the purchase of lands—the purchase of property,” he said outside the San Fernando Police Administration building,.
“Victims would have reported to the fraud office that they would have taken out huge mortgages, they would have taken their life time savings and invested it in real estate and subsequently they lost everything.
“At the fraud office, we are very concerned with this trend that is growing in T&T. This investigation resulted in the arrest of an attorney at law.”
Dookie said he hopes the arrest will send a message to people who conduct land transactions to do so in accordance with the law.
“I hope it will also send a message that regardless of your status in society, if you do not conform to the rule of law, we at the TTPS fraud office will be enforcing the rule of law,” he said.
He said one of the irregularities Fraud Squad investigators see in land deals gone bad was identity theft.
“For example, they would steal the owner’s name and they will prepare fraudulent identification, fraudulent utility bills in the name of the true owner and they will represent themselves as the true owner, so when the transaction is done, you are paying not the true owner of the land who holds the title but the fraudster.”
Dookie said for citizens to recover those lost funds, they must take civil action or initiate criminal investigations that often result in punitive sentences.
“My advice to citizens who intend to purchase land is that they engage the service of a reputable attorney with experience in real estate, that they ensure the necessary checks are made at the Registrar General’s office to ensure the title is a good title,” Dookie said.
“If the purchase is linked to Caroni lands, we strongly advise the purchaser to visit Brechin Castle in Central to verify the authenticity of title for Caroni Lands.
“We also advise persons to visit the Inland Revenue department and check the history of who was paying the land and building taxes, so you could get an idea of who the true owner is.”
