Klao Bell, Staff Reporter
HEAD of the Land Surveyors' Association, Horace Manderson, says the organisation will not tolerate members who are found to be involved in fraudulent activities at the Titles Office.
"I am glad that this is coming out," he commented on the Prime Minister's ordered probe of the agency.
"We have come across it from time to time. We want to see if any of our members are a part of it. There is a major problem with duplicate copies of titles." Mr. Manderson said.
He said the association would be happy to uncover any fraudulent activity involving any of its members.
Mr. Manderson says the association has, from time to time, received reports of either fake titles or dual copies of titles and wants to know if any land surveyor is wilfully participating in fraud.
He referred in particular to a case where there are dual titles for a piece of property in Portmore, St. Catherine, which is valued at $500 million dollars.
"We are investigating the matter now because there was a plan which was signed by a surveyor and we need to know if the signature was forged or if he was aware of it," Mr. Manderson said.
He warned that people should not cut corners in buying property and setting up buildings, as it often leaves them vulnerable to deception.
"People should use the services of land surveyors because we do all the necessary checks to assure the ownership of the property and the validity of the documents," Mr. Manderson said.
Mr. Manderson stated that often people buying land with cash are the ones who choose not to use the services of a land surveyor. This he says, implies that those persons are sometimes involved in illegal activity or don't want their transactions traced.
He appealed though for people to opt for the professional routes to avoid "headache."
"It is not difficult to search for titles. What if you buy land without verifying the title and put up a mansion on it - and somebody comes and claims ownership - that would cause quite a headache," Mr. Manderson said.
Detective Superintendent Errol Samuels of the Fraud Squad said persons who duplicate titles are charged with forgery which carries a penalty of 14 to 21 years.
