Conniving lands officials work with fraudsters to dupe property buyers

Officials at the Ministry of Lands are conniving with fraudsters to rob Kenyans of land and huge sums of money, an investigation by Nation has revealed.

The racketeers comprise lawyers, officers at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, government officials in administration, cybercafé operators, land brokers and some staff at lands registries. They forge land documents used to defraud unsuspecting Kenyans.

A seasoned police investigator with expertise in land fraud, says the Ministry of Lands officials working in the archives department are the most culpable. 'Green cards' and others records are stored in the department.

SALE AGREEMENTS

The officer, who requested anonymity, said rogue lawyers are used by the fraudsters to write the sale agreements.

“Buyers must be extremely cautious especially when the seller proposes and insists that the transaction must be conducted by a particular lawyer,” said the officer. He noted that the fraudsters are also targeting dormant parcels of land and those whose owners have died.

“They move around identifying the properties to grab. Then they buy the physical planning maps of the area to mark the property. They quote the number and approach a lands official,” narrated the investigator. Aided by staff at the Lands registry, they later search for the 'green card' so as to get the history of the land such as sub-division or transfer of ownership.

The 'green card' also has details of the land’s acreage, registration number, names of the registered owner, address, national identity card number, title deed number and when it was issued, and the signature of the land registrar.

With such information, the officer said, the fraudster is good to go on with his mission of forging documents similar to the originals.

They forge the land’s ownership documents such as the title deed, ID card and signature of the land registrar who signed the last entry of the genuine proprietor.

If it is agricultural land in rural areas, the fraudsters forge minutes of the Lands Control Board leaked to them by administration staff in the office of sub-county commissioner, deputy sub-commissioner or the village chief.

GIVEN FORGERIES

Using the ID card, they can even download or create the Personal Identification Number certificate issued by the Kenya Revenue Authourity. This is done in cybercafés, according to the officer.

“No land fraudster works alone. It is a team or a network with individuals playing different roles,” he added.

If among the criminals nobody is close in semblance with the genuine owner of the property, they look for one at a fee to take his/her photo in order to fake the ID card. They finally produce a copy of the ID with all details being similar to the original except the photo which is fake.

After forging the documents, brokers later come in with potential buyers. The buyer would be given the documents, unaware they are forgeries, to conduct own search at the lands registry and compare the details.

Results of the search turn positive since the copies of the documents are generated from those in the ministry’s achieves.

Some sellers are so brave and confident that they escort the buyer to the ground to view the property, but claim to be in a hurry. If the buyer is satisfied, the two move to a lawyer, in most cases chosen by the seller for drawing and signing of a sale agreement.

CASH PAYMENTS

The fraudster demands cash payments and no bank transactions. Some claim not to have a bank account while others claim they have a patient and want to settle medical bills, said the officer.

They never mind instalment payments but they insist it must be in two or three instalments,” says the police investigator.

For agricultural land, says the officer, the bogus transactions go through the Special Land Control Boards. And since land control boards can easily detect fraud as members include village chiefs and residents such as an elder, the fraudsters forge documents showing they appeared before the board.

“They forge consent letter to allow transfer of the ownership. Some are brave and they have audacity of appearing before the Lands Board. Interestingly the board does not verify the national identity card. Chief rarely attend the board meetings, thus giving fraudsters a play field,” says the investigator.

In other areas chiefs and the resident get bribed not to attend the board meetings or they get induced to confirm they know ‘seller’.

Unaware of the game, the sub-county commissioner signs and authorises sale and transfer of the ownership of land. The fraudster then gets the consent application for vendor and purchaser which is presented to the Lands Office to allow the transaction and subsequent issuance of title deed.