A Constantia couple who lost R2.2 million in a house deal that went awry are to take legal action against the conveyancer.
|||Cape Town - A Constantia couple who lost R2.2 million in a house deal that went awry are to take legal action against a conveyancer they believe was “negligent” in handling the purchase.
Kelly-Anne and Jose Duarte were conned into believing they were buying the house with the consent of the owner, Chao-Chen Chen.
This was not so. And those suspected to have received the money have disappeared, according to a judgment handed down in the Western Cape High Court last week.
In Judge Bennie Griesel’s judgment it was outlined how, among other things, a forged passport had been used to fake Chen’s identity so that the authorities would pass the property transfer; the photograph in the passport was not of Chen; forged signatures appeared on the deed of sale and power of attorney; and Chen’s actual marital status didn’t match what was cited on the power of attorney document.
Jose Duarte told the Cape Times that the couple had followed all the right procedures.
They had made an offer to purchase the house in 2011 after seeing an estate agency’s signboard on the property saying it was for sale.
At the time, Chen was living in his homeland of Taiwan and, in his absence, the house had become derelict.
Duarte said he’d been told it was the “seller” who had chosen the conveyancer.
However, in what has been described in court as an “elaborate fraud”, it later came out that Chen had not given his authority for the house to be sold.
He blamed the conveyancer who processed the transfer, saying that he held her “100 percent responsible” because the deal would not have gone through had she picked up the discrepancies.
“If it is found that the conveyancer did all necessary to ensure Chen was the right owner, God help anyone buying a house,” said Duarte.
“Even someone with a fake ID book would be able to sell a house.”
The conveyancer did not respond to messages left for her by the Cape Times, while her attorney said they were not prepared to comment at this stage.
According to Judge Griesel’s judgment, the proceeds of the purported sale had been received by two people identified as Natasha Chang and Changchuan Lin but who had since appeared to have “absconded”.
Duarte also made it clear they had never disputed that Chen, who brought the court application, was the true owner of the house. They had moved into Constantia shortly before him in 1990 and had been his neighbour until he left for Taiwan a few years later.
The only reason the matter had gone to court was because the conveyancer, amid an exchange of lawyers’ letters, had wanted proof that Chen was the rightful owner, Duarte said.
Duarte is considering appealing against Judge Griesel’s order that the Duartes pay Chen’s legal costs. He added that they would hold the conveyancer responsible for the lost cash.
Cape Times