Signage at the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) at its headquarters in Trinidad’s capital city, Port of Spain. Photo by Gerrard Gomez, used with permission
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — In the case of Chandra Ramotar Singh v Bhagwantlall Mossai and Alvin Alves, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Wednesday held that two land titles obtained by Bhagwantlall Mossai and Alvin Alves should be cancelled because they were obtained by fraud.
The appeal concerned land at Lot 14 Mortice, Mahaicony River in Guyana. Although Singh did not have official title, he was in occupation of the land in 1989 when he agreed to buy the land from some of the heirs of the previous owner.
Unknown to Singh, Alves, Bhagwantlall Mossai and his brother, Ramrattan Mossai, had conspired to defraud him. In 1994, Alves applied to the Land Court for title and fraudulently claimed that he was in possession of the land. The Land Court, being unaware that Singh was the person in possession, granted Alves a declaration of title. Alves then sold the land to Bhagwantlall Mossai.
