Be very scared when you read this. It happened to a colleague of mine at the university, and it could happen to you. It is the story of a friend and colleague who thought he was buying a home, but was in fact buying a ticket to hell. If my friend skipped some of the due diligence expected in the process, he can hardly be blamed.
Most property speculators take far greater risks and come away far less scarred. In any case he was buying a home to live in, and since the idea of capital appreciation neatly resides at the back of our heads while we acquire a few hundred square in our name, he intuitively felt he was latching onto a good deal. But the labyrinthine world of deceit he was to soon find himself trapped in could put to shame the dark plot of a Kafka novel. My friend’s misfortune is not easily understood because the layers of complex deception involved are indeed deep. However, here is an attempt at an executive summary.
In February 2007, my friend purchased a constructed four storeyed property in Sector 7, Rohini, through a local property dealer. The said plot was registered in the name of a gentleman (say Mr B), who had notionally transferred ownership to the said property dealer by handing him all the relevant papers related to ownership. My friend, convinced by the fact that the papers in possession of the property dealer meant uncomplicated future transfer onto himself, entered into an agreement by paying the full sum of the property to the dealer. He got possession two months later. And Mr B, the original owner, also helped him secure an electricity connection, convincing my friend that all was above board.
Soon, my friend was paid a visit by one Mr S, who in fact was a witness to the agreement he had signed with the dealer. This Mr S now claimed he was the owner of the property; in fact, another associate, let us call him Mr SS, a partner of the said Mr S, was also involved — three floors from ground upwards had been subsequently sold to three different owners (including the two Mr Ses), while the top floor has yet to see another owner emerge. My friend meanwhile held the conviction that he was the owner of the entire house.
In fact, on record, the property was sold by Mr B to a certain Mr GC, who is an associate of the property dealer my friend had dealt with. And this Mr GC was the one who resold the same to two Mr Ses. If this is getting too complicated you are perhaps getting the point. The idea behind the con was to create a labyrinth of deniability and legal complexity that my friend would get trapped in. In fact, all the parties, including Mr B, were part of the con.
Fortunately, my friend is a redoubtable pamphleteer within the fraternity. He wields an acerbic pen and is perfectly capable of disconcerting even the most settled of offices. He revels in paperwork, loves quoting subsection and clause, and quite thrills in legalese. The cons had finally met their match.
My friend moved court for ‘specific performance’ (to have the papers redrafted to indicate him as owner). Ground floor ‘owner’ Mr S in the meanwhile filed a suit for possession of his share of the property. Mr SS filed a criminal case against my friend, accusing him and the other principals in the case of cheating. The judge saw through the ruse and dismissed the suit.
However, possession of the ground floor was granted to Mr S, with the rider that on all other floors, my friend would retain possession, and the same was to be ensured by the police in case of an attempt at forcible eviction. The judge also directed the offending parties to pay my friend the amount paid by him for the property, with interest, including court charges and legal expense.
The offending parties have yet to oblige, and have instead decided to abscond with the cops hot on their heels. My friend is waiting to be paid his money so that he can quit his ‘property’ and the company of the goons who have made life miserable for he and his family.