Big land fraud
Published:Wednesday | April 6, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Businessman pleads guilty to swiping and selling 93-acre St Mary property
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
A St Catherine man who devised an elaborate scheme to snatch 93 acres of land valued at $168 million from two St Mary land owners, then sell it for a mere $5 million two years ago, has pleaded guilty in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.
Camara Nkrumah, 57, from Tryall Heights in St Catherine, who was jointly charged with another man who remains on the run, initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of fraudulent conversion, but changed his plea when the trial resumed on Monday.
Nkrumah, who has been released on bail, will be sentenced when he returns to court on May 5. The court has also requested a social enquiry report.
The property at the centre of the case, which is located in Mango Valley, St Mary, was purchased by the complainants in 2008.
However, the facts of the case, as outlined by clerk of the courts, Latoya Bernard, are that Nkrumah used a company he had established to apply to the Registrar of Titles' office in Kingston for a replacement title, claiming that the original one was lost.
He was issued a new title bearing the name of the original owners, and then applied, through his company Nkrumah & Associates, for the property to be transferred to the person who has been jointly charged in the case.
Months after the transfer was completed, Nkrumah again applied to the Registrar of Titles' office for a new title bearing the name of his accomplice, claiming that the previous one was damaged.
He was issued with a new title in the name of his accomplice then sold the property to a development company for $5 million.
The development company had started construction on the property when the original owners discovered what had happened and alerted the police.