Latest update December 4th, 2024 2:40 AM
Fraudsters with forged Power of Attorney tries to sell owner his property
The real estate agent and her client…they were both arrested.
It appears that a gang of fraudsters who were targeting empty house lots across the coastland has run of out luck. Yesterday, a number of them were arrested after they attempted to sell a businessman his own property.
It was high drama at a lawyer’s office when the gang, confident they were about to score big, instead ran into the arms of detectives. They had not catered for the quick actions of city businessman, Bonny Singh, who had been alerted to attempts to sell a Georgetown property, which he owns. According to the businessman, he was called by a friend on Thursday night asking about an empty lot he owns on Vlissengen Road, Newtown.
“The friend ask me,” he said, “how come I selling the land and did not tell him. I told him no, I still own the land and it was not being sold.”
The businessman said he was sent a copy of his own transport. He was told that someone was attempting to sell his land. The worried businessman immediately retrieved his original transport and in comparing to the one he was sent, they matched.
A plan was hatched for the businessman to ‘buy’ his property from the ‘sellers’. It was agreed that the ‘buyer’ was to buy the property for $36M and pay an advance of 40 percent or just over $14M.
An appointment was set up at the offices of a city lawyer for yesterday morning. Undercover police and relatives of the businessman staked out the lawyer’s office and sure enough, a woman and another man turned up. The woman introduced herself as a real estate agent.
They presented what appeared as a Power-of-Attorney, which purported to show that the businessman had nominated Hosea Hopkinson of Friendship, East Bank Demerara to have the power-of-attorney. A copy of the document seen by Kaieteur News raised several alarm bells.
For one, the General Power-of-Attorney was prepared by one Notary whose stamp identified him as Cecil Sullivan. It appeared that the document was hurried through as it even identified the businessman, Bonny Singh, as a woman. It even carried a signature and ID card number of the businessman.
It was then that the police moved in and held the woman, who said she is a real estate agent, and Hopkinson. They claimed they were given the land by an overseas man to sell. They were leading detectives outside to meet another man, who was sitting in a white car, PYY 3878, when he suddenly drove away. The car is said to be registered to one Kabul Reece, of Liliendaal. The real estate agent and Hopkinson, in whose name the fake Power-of-Attorney had been made out, were both arrested.
Kaieteur News has been told that the gang has been linked to a number of other questionable land transactions.
“It seemed that someone is alerting people about properties that have been lying undeveloped around the place. This is a big scam and people gotta be careful,” a lawyer told Kaieteur News yesterday.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Deeply concerned about political dysfunction in society
Dear Editor The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) is deeply concerned about the political dysfunction in society that is... more
Haiti: Tragically Descending into Deeper Crisis
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- As gang violence spirals out of control in Haiti, the limitations of international... more
Weekend Cartoon
