THE Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) is investigating an alleged scam in Region Six involving the sale of lands by an individual not authorised to conduct business on behalf of the agency.
The police have been called in to assist with the investigation. CH&PA, in a statement on Wednesday, said it was informed that a woman, purporting to be a representative of the housing authority, has scammed several persons in the region of thousands of dollars.
“Last week two men visited our Regional Housing Office to enquire of lands they paid for, only to be told that the agency does not have any records of transacting business with them,” CH&PA pointed out.
According to the men, they were approached by a woman claiming that she could have gotten lands for them through the agency at a reduced cost.
One of the men reportedly paid the woman $150,000 for three house lots with a balance of $180,000 for his children, while another reportedly paid $70,000 with a balance of $60,000.
CH&PA said similar cases have been reported to the housing office but individuals are unwilling to provide further information. The agency will be turning the matter over to the police, however, persons are asked to be on the alert for scammers. “All payments relating the sale of land or housing units from the Central Housing and Planning Authority must be done at the agency’s Georgetown head office, Regional Housing Offices or Regional Democratic Council, if so advised,” CH&PA reinforced on Wednesday.
Back in August a regional housing officer was taken into police custody for allegedly converting a sum paid for a plot of land to his personal use. The Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) housing officer, identified as Omesh Sasenarine, was questioned in relation to the alleged fraud matter. The Guyana Chronicle was told that the official had allegedly sold a plot of land to the tune of $50,000 on behalf of the regional office. However instead of issuing an official receipt to the applicant, a personal receipt was provided. This newspaper further understands that it was only after the land applicant visited the regional office for an update on her property, it was realised that the receipt issued was done in the official’s personal capacity. Checks done by the regional office revealed no record of the land transaction. When the land applicant made further checks at the Central Housing and Planning Authority it was also revealed that no record of the transaction existed. The police were subsequently called in.
