It
took a High Court order to get ownership back for a West Coast homeowner robbed
of her property by a Jordanian internet scammer.
Given the alias Ms Cook by the court, she
was scammed by an individual describing himself on the internet as Akram Abdallah
from Jordan. Ms Cook suffers from post
traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. In the course of chat room conversations Ms
Cook offered to help Mr Abdallah get a visa for New Zealand. He told her ownership of property in New
Zealand would assist his visa application.
She offered to sell her home to him.
He agreed to buy her out and pay all legal expenses, further promising
to transfer the property back to her once he was in New Zealand. The High Court was told a Greymouth solicitor
acted on the sale, transferring legal title to Mr Abdallah after Ms Cook told
her solicitor she had received payment.
In fact, no payment was ever made for either the agreed $30,000 price or
legal fees incurred. The Law Society
subsequently took disciplinary action against the solicitor. Mr Abdallah’s application for a visa was
refused. When Ms Cook contacted him to
get back title to her home he extorted sums of money out of her as a condition
of returning ownership, then did nothing.
Being registered on the title gave Mr
Abdallah complete ownership. There is a
government guarantee of ownership once registered on the title. He could be removed on proof of fraud but the
registrar-general of land requires more than unsubstantiated allegations of
fraud. A court order is necessary. Meanwhile, both Ms Cook and the registrar
lodged caveats against the title to prevent any further dealings with the land
pending a court hearing. Legal rules
require parties to any court action receive notice of an intended court
hearing. Mr Abdallah could not be
traced. Public advertisements in Amman
were used as notice to Mr Abdallah.
There was no response.
After evidence detailing facts of the
fraud was given in the High Court, Justice Nation restored Ms Cook to the title
as owner of her home.
Cook
v. Abdallah – High Court (14.10.16)
16.145