Housing Minister Irfaan Ali has warned that a group of fraudsters have been forging property transports by posing as ministry officials and their victims so far include an overseas-based Guyanese, who was bilked of $1M.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Ali on Thursday told the media that the ministry has successfully infiltrated the group. “They are taking transports and whiteout the original owners and information and they put the victim’s name in the transport, photocopy it and issue it as a transport,” he said. “It is sad that persons within our society are still not heeding the ministry’s call to avoid themselves from being caught-up in these circumstances,” Ali added, while saying that so far the ministry knows of two persons who have fallen prey to the scam, including the overseas-based Guyanese.
“We are asking members of the public to be vigilant and to desist from encouraging these fraudsters by participating in these fraudulent schemes,” Ali was quoted as saying by GINA.
He noted that earlier this year, the ministry infiltrated a group of persons operating out of Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD). According to GINA, the group was tampering with housing documents, titles and transports in an effort to defraud persons. “A number of persons were defrauded by that group … the group was arrested and the matter is before the courts,” Ali said.
