Police and Lands Dept. to Work Closer on Land Fraud Cases

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams has also chimed in on the Doris Grant matter.  This afternoon, he told reporters that the police department and the Ministry of Natural Resources need to work closely in investigating and arresting perpetrators of land fraud.

 

Reporter

“Sir, in relation to Doris Grant and the land fraud, this is the third, I would say, big land case that we are seeing in recent times.  We had Ricardo Borja who was killed, we had Dalla Coin who was killed.  They were both in land dealings, and now we have Doris Grant in this land fraud.  Is land fraud now something that police are keeping a closer eye on?”

 

Chester Williams

“Well certainly, we have to look at it more meticulously and there needs to be proper coordination with the Ministry of Natural Resources.  I don’t understand how people could falsify documents.  Maybe there needs to be something done to make sure that the documents used at the land registry are not easily forged.  And again, people who are purchasing land need to make sure that they do their respective due diligence.  You can’t just go and buy land from anybody.  You can have an agent go to the land registry and do research for you on any piece of land that you may have interest in and they should be able to tell you if that land is available or taken.  And likewise, I think that within the Ministry of Natural Resources, I don’t think they have agents that would normally go out and do certain things.  So if a person out in the street would tell you that they are an agent of natural resources or they are an agent of this or that, then you need to make sure you do your proper due diligence before you give them your money because at the end of the day then this becomes the issue.  So it’s a huge problem for us indeed, but the issue is that many a times it does not come to the police.  We only hear of it out there in the greater public and only a few of them would normally come to the police.”