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Title Insurance itself is fraud. The best way is go to the Lands office and see for yourself who is the owner and when purchasing make sure you pay the title transfer tax to have the title transferred into your name.
There are tons of ways to get screwed in these deals.
One biggie is write the title transfer check to your agent and not government. I just can't understand what these people are thinking when they need to pay a government tax and write the check for it to the real estate agent.

From the movie Casablanca:

>>

Rick Blaine, owner of Rick's casino and bar (Humphrey Bogart): How can you close me up? On what grounds?

Police Captain Renault (Claude Rains): I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

PRICELESS !!

The Realestate fraud and Scams are multinational and by no means just a Belizean thing.
Major Strasser: What is your nationality?
Rick Blaine: I'm a drunkard.
Capt. Louis Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.

Barrow knew nothing of the deal to swoop in and take a bunch of houses a while back until his sister and another Minister got sideways over wanting to steal the same house. I'm guessing Vega knew nothing of it as well. Heavy are the pockets that wear the crown...

San Pedro Land Fraud Scandal Grows Hotter

In September, 2011, the San Pedro Sun broke the story of a land scandal within the San Pedro Town Council.    The matter surrounded a beachfront  property situated in the Mata Grande area.    Allegations were that the property was illegally acquired by a Miss Candy Bradley who was then a Town Council employee.   According to San Pedro Sun further allegations were that town councilor Juan Alamilla used his cousin, the Minister of Tourism, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr. to sign a letter recommending that Ms. Bradley be allowed to purchase the property which was said to belong to the government.   The property really belonged to two American nationals, who had no idea that their property was being sold by the government of Belize.   It was reported in the San Pedro Sun newspaper that Bradley sold the land to someone who later found out that the land was illegally acquired.   The new owner requested his money back.   Government returned the land to the American owners; the sellers who initiated the sale leveraged themselves to get in a compensation from government in cash or new land; win-win.   Corruption regarding real estate is complex, involving many players in a variety of roles.   Recently, the Prime Minister, in a visit to the U.S. told the Belizean Americans that there is a hot bed of corruption in the Lands Department.

Hon. Dean Barrow- Prime Minister of Belize and Minister of Finance

"I believe that the Lands Department, unfortunately, is another hot bed of corruption.   The administration has tried to do something about the officers who through dishonesty rather than incompetency, and partly in some instances is a combination of both.   The difficulty with these public officers is that constitutionally, they have tenure.   So, you can't get rid of them except you go through a process that sees you bring administrative challenges; there must be a hearing before the Public Services Commission who seems to be every reluctant to fire public officers.   Where a case has already occurred, it's a little difficult because, ultimately if somebody got title when there was a preexisting ownership, the title would have to be seen as having been issued in error or as a consequence of fraud, and the court will set aside the second title and recognize the first one.   The difficulty is, you have to go to court, and that is costly, but in a situation like that, the Ministry can't really solve the problem because, if the ministry comes down in favor of the previous land owner after having issued a second title, the second title holder will sue the government and if the Ministry comes down in favor of the second title, the first title will sue.   So, ultimately, the only way that the ministry tries to make can be vindicated is by the way of some sort of a court ruling".

Well, there is another issue in San Pedro that sounds very familiar to the 2011 Mata Grande land one.  In fact, the new issue was also in court this year where the claimants have referred to their 2011 land deal as precedent for what they are calling ''land fraud on the Island of San Pedro.   This lan disuse also stems from transactions that happened in late 2011 as well.  Meet Carlos Balona, a man who has owned $1M beachfront property on opulent north Ambergris Caye with its trendy all inclusive resorts.   Balona got the land for only $13,000.   He was recommended for the purchase of the land by area representative and Minister Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr.   Balona rents a little house from former UDP Councilor, Juan Alamilla, cousin of Minister Heredia.   When he spoke to us, Balona apparently knows very little about the $1M land he owns and said that his landlord Juan Alamilla knows more about the property.   That's because Balona only owned the land for a few days before it was sold for $100,000 to Mario Rodriguez.   The sale was also facilitated by real estate agent and also Justice of the Peace, Pedro Vazquez, who certified that he was witness to their $100,000 transaction.   But after this sale, Balona says he has received no money for it:

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Bway dice ese cuate que que ya termino esa cosa, dice, todo dice".   "Boy, that buddy says that such a thing it's over, he says".

Reporter:   "Quien dice eso?"  ("Who said that?")

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Mr. Juan".

Reporter:   "Juan que?" (Juan what?)

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Mr. Juan Alamilla".

Reporter:   "Juan Almilla, y el llamo a usted (and he called you just now and told you) y decir que todo se ter…el dice todo se acabo, okay".

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Se acabo, si".  (It's over yes".)

Reporter:   "Pero ellos pagaron a usted para la tierra?"   ("But did they pay you for the land?")

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Yo… solo el nombre incluian y no mas".("What happened is..all they did was the use of my name".)

Reporter:   "Solo usar su nombre.   Ellos no dar a usted dinero?   Did they not give you money?)

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "No, ahorita no.   Yo creo que el terreno no se ha vendido.   No hay nada ahorita de eso, no hay nada".  ("No, not right now.   I believe that the land has not been sold yet.   There is no such a thing about that yet".)

Reporter:   "So, si ellos vendieron la tierra, despues de eso, a usted va a dar, cuanto? ("So, if they sell the land, after that, you will get how much?')

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Todavia no me han dicho".  ("They haven't told me yet".)

Reporter:   "Haw? No han dicho?" 

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Todavia no me han dicho nada". ("They haven't told me anything yet".)

Reporter:   "Hooombre!" ("Maaan!")

Mr. Carlos Balona:  "Y esa es la problema, si".  ("And that is the problem, yes".)

On November 10^th, Mario Rodriguez was in negotiations for the sale of the property, when a land occupation notice appeared in the San Pedro Sun newspaper claiming fraud and wrongful possession of the same property.   That's because there are other title holders to the land.   According to documents sent to us, the 1.3 acre plot belonged to Patricia and Frederick Dow Sr. who purchased it on August 29, 1980.   The Dows then passed their property to their three children as Deed of Gift.   This was done in September in 1995.   As far as the Dows knew, the property was theirs until they were informed that Rodriguez was trying to sell the land.   The Dows claimed in a lawsuit that Carlos Balona and Mario Rodriguez used fraud to obtain their property.   They also claimed that the Ministry of Land, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Attorney General "acted outside the scope of their statutory authority…and contravened the rights of the Dows…by arbitrarily depriving them from their property. (Claim No. 825 of 2011)   How did it end up here?   Well, it began with the Ministry of Natural Resources acquiring the land in question, for public use.   Then, in August of 2011, on the strength of UDP area representative, Hon. Manuel Heredia's recommendation, the Ministry gave Carlos Balona permission to survey the 1.3 acres it recently acquired.   By September, the property was legitimately registered at the Section of Mapping of Lands Department.   Acting upon information received, the Dows instructed their real estate agent to immediately inform the Ministry of Natural Resources that they were the true and the rightful owners of the beachfront property.

At that point, no lease or title had been issued to Balona.   On October 3^rd the real estate agent wrote Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Gaspar Vega and CEO, Ms. Beverly Castillo and informed them of the possible fraud, providing relevant documents.   A portion of that letter reads:   …We are requesting that a stay be put with my dealings with this property until this matter is cleared up and the rightful owners are able to execute their legal and equitable position as rightful owners The following day, another letter was sent to CEO Beverley Castillo requesting an audience because of the urgency of the situation.  The real estate agent says he called many times but with no success to get appointment to see the CEO or the Commissioner,  Mr. Wilmer Vallejos.   Yet, days later on October 7^th, the lands department, with all the warnings and explanations, still proceeded to issue Balona a lease on the property.   And in unusual speed, that lease was converted to title two weeks later on October 27^th.

Another two weeks later, on November 10^th, the notice of fraud appeared in the San Pedro Sun.  Unbelievably, the following day, November 11, the title of the property moved from Mr. Carlos Balona to Mr. Mario Rodriquez.   On January 5, 2012, an injunction was placed on the property, parcel # 9627.  This stopped Mario Rodriquez from flipping the million dollar property.  The Dow's have also filed a lawsuit against the Government of Belize and several of the actors.

No less than the former US Ambassador met with Minister Gaspar Vega on January 15, 2013 to discuss this particular case.   However, to date, the Dow's have not gotten back their proper land title, are contemplating going back to court, GOB has compensated Rodriquez with new government lands, we understand 2 acres of prime marine-side land he was seen clearing JUST on Thursday, November 8th; and Balona? He still chops yards and has no money, even though he was a millionaire unbeknownst to him for a brief moment.  He still unaware that a lawsuit with him as number one defendant was being fought on his behalf by government in court… And when we asked him why he did not show up to court, he told us that it has already been taken care of it.

PlusTV

Government steals land from US national, then rewards culprits

Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr.

Hon. Gaspar Vega

As the massive fire of corruption continues to gut the Ministry of Immigration and Godwin Hulse's integrity, an equally devastating fire is now raging at the Ministry of Natural Resources.

If, as Dean Barrow predicted, visa hustling would bring down his government, the next story is set to nosedive our country right down to the very bottom of the corruption index charts.

Frederick Dow, a US national, was the proud owner of 1.3 acres of prime beachfront property on San Pedro, Ambergris Caye. In 1995 he, along with his siblings, received the property as a gift from their late father. The approximate value of the property is Two Million Belize Dollars.

In what can only be described as an elaborately orchestrated heist, in October of 2011, the Ministry of Natural Resources did the unthinkable. They issued a second title over Mr. Dow's property to a UDP crony, on the recommendation of the Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia.

The Players

Prior to the UDP government stealing his property, Mr. Dow was made aware that something was afoot when a person he identified as Juan Alamilla, the cousin of Minister Manuel Heredia, began offering Mr. Dow's property for sale.

What was even stranger, was the fact that Minister Manuel Heredia had issued a letter recommending one Carlos Balona, a UDP crony, to receive title to Mr. Dow's property.

Now, everybody and their granny on San Pedro know that all beachfront property on San Pedro is privately owned. So how could the Minister issue a letter of recommendation for Carlos Balona knowing that the property belonged to a private owner?

Realizing that something fishy was taking place, Mr. Dow immediately instructed his real estate agent to fire off a letter to the CEO in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Beverly Castillo, warning the government of the fraud that was taking place.

What Mr. Dow didn't realize was that this kind of corruption is now commonplace under the current Ministry of Natural Resources and they were actually in on the plan to steal his property. Instead of putting a halt to the land scam, the Ministry expedited the processing of the double title and hurriedly issued it to Carlos Balona, as recommended by Minister Manuel Heredia.

Carlos Balona seems to have been a mere pawn in the game played by the UDP big-wigs. But, for a few short days, Carlos Balona, was a multi-millionaire.

Apparently, realizing that Mr. Dow was hot on their trail, Balona was then instructed by the UDP big-wigs to transfer the multi-million dollar property to a second UDP crony, Mario Rodriguez.

According to the transfer paperwork, Mario Rodriguez supposedly bought the property from Carlos Balona for $100,000.00. However, in a very candid interview on Plus TV, Balona declared that the entire transaction was bogus. He was set up by Juan Alamilla. No money was passed. Balona was used and so was Rodriguez. According to Balona, to this day he has not received a single cent from Alamilla nor Rodriguez for playing his part in the land scam.

The Injunction

Having come to the realization that the Ministry of Natural Resources was aiding and abetting the theft of his property, Frederick Dow had no choice but to seek legal recourse in the Supreme Court of Belize.

Mr. Dow filed for an injunction to restrain Mario Rodriguez (the 2^nd UDP crony to receive his title) and the Minister of Natural Resources from transferring his property yet again.

The courts granted Mr. Dow's application and Alamilla, Balona, Rodriguez and the Government of Belize were arrested in their tracks.

With the injunction in place and the culprits identified, the Government of Belize had no choice but to come clean and return the title to its rightful owner, Mr. Frederick Dow.

Despite the bust, the Government continues to play games with Mr. Dow's property.  Instead of giving him back his 1.3 acres of land the Government has issued title to only 1.1 acres, depriving Mr. Dow of the most valuable portion of his property, the beachfront. Needless to say, Mr. Dow will continue to sue the Government for this fraud. The longer the UDP takes to right their horrible wrongdoings, the more taxpayers of Belize will pay for the Government's corrupt acts.

Culprits Rewarded

While the story may eventually have a happy ending for Frederick Dow, the truth is Belize has suffered on so many levels.

Firstly, and perhaps the most absurd, after Mario Rodriguez was forced to give back the title to Mr. Dow, the Government for whatever unknown reason, gave Rodriguez other parcels of land likewise worth millions of dollars.

Rodriguez never paid Balona for the "exchange" of Mr. Dow's property, but yet the Government felt an obligation to reward Rodriguez, their UDP crony, in the land scam. This is the crux of the scam: no matter the outcome of the Supreme Court case, the UDPs would hustle big no matter what!

As readers may recall, this is not the first time that UDPs have gotten away with such a white-colour heist. Remember the prime pieces of Placencia Reserve that Gaspar Vega gave to his daughter, his son's girlfriend and his imported pet, Dorian Pakeman? Then there was the sea front property given illegally to Orange Walk UDP crony, Derrick Gillett and Rosita Aragon (sister to another crony, Elodio Aragon). All under Gaspar Vega.

Even though the Vega flunkies were forced to return the lands back to their owners they were repaid quite handsomely for their role in the give-and- take back scheme.  We have evidence showing that Gillett and Aragon were paid as much as $140,000.

Secondly, taxpayers will have to foot the legal bill for Rodriguez, Balona and the Government of Belize.  Believe it or not Belize, this is really taking place.  You are paying for the corrupt acts of UDP criminals.

Thirdly, and most concerning, the US Embassy and the international media have been briefed about his land scam and it is now only a matter of sit and wait before we feel the international effects of just another black-eye at the hands of Dean Barrow and his corrupt UDP government.

The fire is burning under the UDP's Hotbed of Corruption and we are paying.

The Belize Times

When the cronies claim they were duped and paid good money to GOB only to discover the title the GOB gave them was in error the GOB is expected to then compensate the injured victim. So even when the true title,holder has his title reinstated wholly, the other victim of the land scam then gets a compensation payment from the GOB when they should in fact be wearing ankle and wrist bracelets and be guests at Her Majesty's prison.

Looks like new investment strategies for Ambergris to me.

Yes Amanda, its time politicians and those abetting and benefiting are charged and serve. Till then, we only have the media to inform us and disclose their activities. Shame though, they have no shame.