A realtor yesterday found himself in court on a fraud charge after a client accused him of scamming her of $500,000 in a land sale.
The charge against Shawn Waaldijk is that on February 18, 2013, at Georgetown, with intent to defraud, he obtained from Alecia Joseph the sum of $500,000 by pretending to her that he was in a position to sell her house lot #1473, located at Block XXIV Buxton Village, East Coast Demerara.
Waaldijk, 36, denied the charge when it was read to him by city magistrate Judy Latchman.
His attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat opined that the matter should not have been tried criminally as aspects of the case have already engaged the attention of the High Court.
According to Fung-A-Fat, the case is a typical one in the real estate business, where a seller, at the last moment, decides against selling to a potential buyer.
He, however, said that upon an agreement made between the parties at a police station, Waaldijk has repaid the sum of $230,000 to Joseph and the remainder of $270,000 has to be repaid to her by another person who was also part of the agreement.
On these grounds, Fung-A-Fat requested that Waaldijk, a father of five, be admitted to reasonable bail. He also said that the man, who has been in the real estate business for the past 16 years, had no previous convictions, posed no risk of flight and had been cooperating with the police.
But Prosecutor Michal Grant objected to bail and he told the court that Waaldijk has other matters of a similar nature pending in other courts. In two of those cases, he noted, advice has been sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the way forward.
After hearing submissions from both sides, Magistrate Latchman overruled Grant’s objections and set Waaldijk’s bail at $100,000. His matter will be called again on September 30 at Court One.
