House lot fraudster may have fled country on brother’s passport

Nov 09, 2012 News

– Housing Ministry official
Police are still to apprehend the alleged mastermind behind the recent $80M house lot scam, and officials at the Housing Ministry have received reports that the suspect has fled overseas.
A Housing Ministry official told Kaieteur News this week that the ministry has received what appeared to be credible reports that the alleged mastermind slipped out of the country while using a brother’s passport.
The sibling reportedly lives in Canada and is said to bear a striking resemblance to the suspect.
Officials from the Housing Ministry were informed that the alleged fraudster collected the passport from a female acquaintance of his brother who had visited Guyana.
The suspect, who had lived at Grove, East Bank Demerara, was fingered in a scam involving the sale of bogus house lots, which were purportedly located in Diamond and Grove Housing Schemes. He narrowly escaped from police last October. A warrant was subsequently issued for his arrest.
Kaieteur News understands that the man later contacted some of his victims by phone and promised to reimburse them.
His gang allegedly convinced victims that they had connections within the Housing Ministry and one female member allegedly pretended to be a Ministry staffer.
Police have since charged a 19-year-old clothes vendor and a 25-year-old laboratory technician in connection with the scam.
Their trial is scheduled to commence on November 19.