…Official Gazette to be made more accessible
…processes of accessing documents at Deeds Registry to be examined
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has committed that his Government will be doing all in its power to protect Guyanese from property ownership fraud as advised by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in a recent court ruling.
The court matter in question, which made its way up to the CCJ, concluded with an overseas-based Guyanese losing his property in Queenstown, Georgetown after it was sold to another person by someone pretending to be the agent of the original owner, along with a lawyer.
Though the person who purchased the property first made inquiries at the Deeds Registry, she was given confirmation that the information provided to her was valid such as the power of attorney being filed at the Deeds Registry and the transport of the property being in the owner’s name.
It was only after the purchaser got the transport into her name that the overseas owner was made aware of the development and though he returned home and later took the matter to Court, he did not win the case as he was unable to prove fraud on the purchaser’s part.
Nandlall said that the concern raised by the CCJ that Guyana ought to do more to prevent such acts is of fundamental importance to all Guyanese. He said that the Government is therefore working to improve existing laws and systems.
“The system failed the owner of the property causing that poor gentleman to lose a property valued tens of millions of dollars. This is not an isolated incident. This type of fraudulent conduct repeatedly has occurred, especially in recent times,” the AG said.
He explained that this is not the only means through which such fraud occurs as persons replicate transports provided by the Deeds Registry and impersonate the person whose name it is in later selling the said property to others.
In other cases, he said that property owners sell the same property to several persons with the intention of accepting early-stage deposits from each person and then they leave the country.
Nandlall believes that, without doubt, there is a “wide and very integrated conspiracy at work” as no one person can succeed in such fraud.
“It is against that backdrop that we have now — supported by a call from the CCJ — examined the system. Examined both the administrative apparatus as well as the statutory framework and see how we can improve the system, both in terms of the law as well as in terms of the processes that have to be administratively executed when transport moves from one hand to another,” the AG notified.
Furthermore, as another means to protect one’s property, Nandlall said that Guyanese need to acquaint themselves with the Official Gazette and advertisements regarding properties therein.
Meanwhile, the AG has already met with the management of the National Printers — the printers of the Official Gazette — about making the document more accessible to the public, apart from being online.
He stressed: “The Official Gazette’s accessibility is crucial in this preventative scheme that I hope to implement. The Official Gazette is only sold at the Office of the President. When I inquired of the publishers of the Official Gazette how many copies are sent to the Office of the President I was told only 300 copies or thereabout. Now that is absolutely inadequate and the Office of the President cannot continue to be the only place where the Official Gazette can be accessed.”
The AG is examining placing copies of the Official Gazette at Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs), Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDCs), post offices, popular stores, on social media and on various government websites.
He said that once people begin to peruse the Official Gazette they can see whether persons are unlawfully advertising their properties as well as other important notifications. An extension of the time that transports are advertised in the Gazette is also being examined.
Apart from this, the AG has begun discussions with the Guyana Bar Association about improvements to the legal framework when it comes to property fraud. A review of the persons who are approved as notaries will be conducted as well as stricter processes towards accessing certain documents at the Deeds Registry.
The AG iterated: “It is a very, very serious matter and we have to confront it head-on.”
