Allan Price, now deceased, lived abroad but owned a portion of land in Queenstown that is, by definition, “immovable property.” So does land with a building, similar properties. In 2004, Ann Jennifer Jeboo drafted his name on a power of attorney, giving her the power to sell his land. He sold it to Marlene Todd for $ 4 million. Todd had no knowledge of the forgery. Price discovered the forgery and sued Jeboo and Todd to set aside the sale and judge the transportation void.
The High Court refused to do so because Todd had no knowledge of the fraud and, therefore, was a buyer for value without notice. Had she been in collusion with Jeboo, the High Court could have set aside the sale and canceled the transport on the basis of fraud if the case was brought within a year of finding the fraud.
The Court of Appeal overturned the High Court on several grounds, which are not relevant to this story, but the Caribbean Court of Justice, on February 25, 2021, overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision and overturned the High Court’s decision. The only consolation to Price’s family was that Jeboo, the forgery, had been imprisoned for three years. They lost the property. In his view, Justice Wit suggested that the appropriate laws need to be reviewed and revised.
The nature of the forgery committed by Jeboo raised its head about thirty years ago. Criminals discovered that a large number of properties, alone or land, were occupied and vacant, the latter spontaneously, whose owners lived abroad. These properties became easy choices if the owners’ names can be forged on the powers of attorneys giving the forger the power to sell the property. Many such properties were sold and owners cheated. Another scam involved neighbors and others applying for a declaration of ownership through the prescriptive title of property, especially vacant land, individuals who had migrated. All they needed to prove was twelve years of calm and unfavorable possession. They can do this by saying it in evidence only.
I have learned in my post over many decades that Guyanese abroad are deeply involved with property they own, or inherit, or are likely to inherit. Almost a person with a fierce ambition to retain or acquire ownership of property, even in cases where the value is meaningless to them, or where there is no sentimental attachment. Except for sentimental reasons, I have not been able to discover the reasons behind the campaign to hold property of little value and against the earnings and living standards of people abroad. It’s an unexplained phenomenon. No warnings of fraud risks are usually addressed.
As it became more and more common, my law firm and some other respected solicitors began to refuse to accept legal work involving conveyance of property by a power of attorney on the purchaser’s behalf, except in circumstances where there is clearly no fraud, such as both the buyer and the attorney are personally known. Not all lawyers stood against the use of powers of attorney, so that the criminal forgery could continue their trade. Unconditional people also practice the law and a few lawyers would sign the conveyancing documents for a split of the fee. But as the crime got worse, it became more known. Nevertheless, it continues to this day and new types of property fraud have emerged. One variation involved forgery of owners’ signatures on powers of attorney giving the forger the power to mortgage the property. The counterfeiters would then obtain loans from lending institutions totaling millions, then disappear, until the lending institutions stopped issuing mortgages through a power of attorney.
Law reform to prevent this type of fraud where many people have lost their homes that they took a lifetime of effort to acquire, and banks have lost millions, has been over for decades. Hopefully, the CCJ’s comment would inspire the Attorney General to take urgent action to eliminate this fraud.
The public is looking at proposals that will end falsifications of powers of attorney by statutorily imposing on public notaries the requirement for parties to a power of attorney and recordkeeping requirements to produce proof of identification, including copies of identification documents. Failure to maintain these records should constitute criminal offenses and withdraw the appointments as notary public. The Registry of Deeds now requires copies of the identification documents of the individuals who confer a power of attorney. This requirement should be made into law.
The Attorney General may also want to consider imposing certain requirements on property buyers from persons with powers of attorney. These may include a signed affidavit in statutory form sent directly to the purchaser or his or her solicitor confirming the sale and its conditions or some other confirmation requirement to be filed in the Registry of Deeds together with the conveyance documents from the purchaser or his / her solicitor. There may be other ideas, but there is an urgent need now.