 CONNED: Sean Cousins of Gold Coast |  Australians are buying beachfront Fiji properties from “fake chiefs” who have no right to sell the land. This was one of the disputed blocks. |
AUSTRALIANS are winding up in costly property disputes in Fiji after buying land from “fake chiefs” who are not the rightful owners.
Former Gold Coast lawyer Sean Cousins is warning holiday-makers not to fall for the “convincing” scams after discovering he had leased a 100m stretch of beachfront land from a vendor who was not the village chief as claimed.
“The warning is, watch out, because I’m not the only one who has been stung,” he said.
“Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Germans — be aware, there are a number of Fijian people who claim to own the land and sell it to you and they don’t own it.”
A regular visitor to Fiji, he had started looking for land three years ago when he was approached with an offer “too good to refuse” involving land in a popular tourist area.
“This man introduced himself as the chief and the landowner and he showed me his father’s graves and his two brothers’ graves,” he said.
“It was all very convincing. There were about five or six houses and it really did appear to be one little family village.”
Former Gold Coast lawyer Sean Cousins is warning holiday-makers not to fall for the “convincing” scams after discovering he had leased a 100m stretch of beachfront land from a vendor who was not the village chief as claimed.
“The warning is, watch out, because I’m not the only one who has been stung,” he said.
“Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Germans — be aware, there are a number of Fijian people who claim to own the land and sell it to you and they don’t own it.”
A regular visitor to Fiji, he had started looking for land three years ago when he was approached with an offer “too good to refuse” involving land in a popular tourist area.
“This man introduced himself as the chief and the landowner and he showed me his father’s graves and his two brothers’ graves,” he said.
“It was all very convincing. There were about five or six houses and it really did appear to be one little family village.”
“Real chief” Ratu Taniela Gonerara, pictured with his daughter Adi Tavo, moved to evict the villagers involved.
They reached an agreement and he started paying a monthly fee to the “chief” to lease the land, then spent about $70,000 building a house on the block.
“My parents came to stay, family friends came to stay. Every time he would come over and say, ‘Hello, I’m the chief’,” Mr Cousins said.
Locals subsequently informed him the land belonged to a larger gazetted village and he discovered he had been paying the wrong person.
He went to court in conjunction with the “real chief”, Ratu Taniela Gonerara, and won a judgment against the vendor in June for repayment of FJD$24,400 ($14,980).
“The court is satisfied with the evidence (he) relied on the defendant’s initial false statement that he is the chief and he has the exclusive ownership to the said land which in actual fact he is not,” the judgment reads.
Mr Cousins subsequently obtained court orders bankrupting the vendor, and the real chief this week moved to evict the villagers involved. The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Australia
“My parents came to stay, family friends came to stay. Every time he would come over and say, ‘Hello, I’m the chief’,” Mr Cousins said.
Locals subsequently informed him the land belonged to a larger gazetted village and he discovered he had been paying the wrong person.
He went to court in conjunction with the “real chief”, Ratu Taniela Gonerara, and won a judgment against the vendor in June for repayment of FJD$24,400 ($14,980).
“The court is satisfied with the evidence (he) relied on the defendant’s initial false statement that he is the chief and he has the exclusive ownership to the said land which in actual fact he is not,” the judgment reads.
Mr Cousins subsequently obtained court orders bankrupting the vendor, and the real chief this week moved to evict the villagers involved. The Courier Mail, Brisbane, Australia
The bankruptcy notice.
“I, Ratu Taniela Gonerara, Chief of the Yavusa Nasikawa, hereby order you to vacate the three houses (in the village) immediately,” a handwritten notice declared.
Other Queenslanders have been caught in similar disputes, Mr Cousins said.
“A couple from southeast Queensland bought some land about 20 minutes east of me and started to build a resort, only to discover the person they bought the land from does not own the land. Luckily, they were able to come to a negotiation with the real chief.”
Other Queenslanders have been caught in similar disputes, Mr Cousins said.
“A couple from southeast Queensland bought some land about 20 minutes east of me and started to build a resort, only to discover the person they bought the land from does not own the land. Luckily, they were able to come to a negotiation with the real chief.”
From Fiji Times, 11 September 2017
