US residents victim of land fraud at hands of Justice of Peace
More compelling stories are surfacing about persons who have been defrauded of their properties. There are the well known cases of businessmen Israel “Pie Marin”, William and Jimmy Quinto as well as US senator David Hale and Canadian national Andre Jervais, who had titles to land but later found out that it was not the case. Enter the Bertley family from Maryland, USA. They visited Belize back in 2006 and decided to purchase property because they wanted a stake in the Jewel. During their vacation, Renrique and Valerie Bertley signed a contract for the purchase of a plot in Dangriga for ten thousand US dollars from Dangriga resident and Justice of the Peace Clinton Hernandez. That was five years ago and the Bertleys, who made a handsome down payment for the property, are back in Belize. But the land has not been transferred and they have been unable to contact Hernandez since the initial payment. The Bertleys have since filed a civil suit to get back their money. They visited our studios today and Valerie told us about the land scam.
Valerie Bertley, Victim of Land Scam
Valerie Bertley
“We went to Dangriga, there was a gentlemen, Clinton Hernandez, who showed us around a few properties and we saw one that was in the raw that we were interested in near the Coca COLA Plant down in Dangriga. And we sat with him at the Pelican’s Resort and Justice of the Peace, Camilla, and we had—he drew up the paper work and all, we signed the paperwork and our daughter recorded the whole transaction and we believed that we were purchasing property through Mr. Hernandez. After leaving Belize, we never once again heard from him until it was time to send him money. We sent him money, he cashed the cheque for five thousand US and we haven’t heard anything from him whatsoever. We went down last week and took papers with us so that he could be served and he was served for civil court and we were there on Friday and he never showed up. They called his name early and it was at the end of the court day when our name was called and it’s been adjourned until next week. And at this point we don’t want the property in Dangriga, we just want our money back.”
Delahnie Bain
“So at this point that’s all you’re suing for; the five thousand US that you paid him?”
Valerie Bertley
“Five thousand US; we would like to have the interest on that five thousand US and we would also like to have the other expenses. We’ve had to rent vehicles to get to Dangriga; we’ve rented it twice to get to Dangriga. We’ve paid for us to travel from the US. My husband, he came so that he could be here for the court case.”
Despite their bad experience with the Dangriga land transaction, the Bertley’s still want to buy property in Belize and are now looking at options in the Corozal District.
A justice of the peace commission is a licence to steal in the Jewel!
PUT ALL THESE OFFICIAL CRIMINALS IN JAIL ON BREAD AND WATER!
If ANY sworn criminal complaint is made against a justice of the peace or judge, he should be suspended IMMEDIATELY until it is resolved in his favour..
Black people the screw black people no wonder this black family want to go buy land whey Spanish people live I don’t blame you .
Why are Belizeans selling their land for a little bit of money?Where in the USA can i buy a piece of land for Five thousand US?Wake up my Belizean people.
Hmmmm…land transactions going down after 5:00am
along with being a JP, he is also a commissioner of the courts and ring leader of the land fraud in Stann Creek.
they will get their 5000 US back and nothing will come out of this.
What do you expect from a justice of the peace in Belize after all they have been selected by the same dirty corrupted politicians that runs the country. Remember My Legacy B4 My People.
stop buy thing from people you see bout the street…..that is why they call the good guys Real Estate agents..ay man…
Guys,
Please learn from me. A lawyer charges you 750 dollars to do a land transaction. If it’s fraud, you’re backed up, simple as that. He will go to the titles unit and double check on the land.
I’ve done about 15 transactions, and each one through a lawyer (Oswald Twist), and i’ve had NO problems.
Wish everyone good luck with real estate.
I believe all JP’s are thiefs, and like one guy said they will get thier money and nothing will come out of it. and that jp should serve jail time. and if not he will just go and thief someone else again. thiefs belong in jail.
get an attorney before you do the deal,
OR, you are going to need a more expensive attorney later.
the fact that they live out of Belize, they will pay extra.
besides giving Dangriga a bad reputation, they ran off investors into their community.
people who might caused some construction jobs, or helped the schools, or made a positive difference to some kid’s future.
Poverty, thanks to criminals and communities that let it go on, it prospers.
Clinton Hernandez is one of Dangriga’s well known con artist. He has swindled from many people here including an American business man who wanted to open a resturant in Dangriga, then he also conned someone in a radio station business deal. Then without his wife’s permission, he sold her land in Placencia which she inherited and should have gone to her children, but instead, he did some illegal stuff and sold her land. This guy should be in jail, but he has political connections protecting him. I’m surprised that he hasn’t yet been found floating dead in the Havana Canal here….And this is the tip of the iceberg of his misdeeds. There should be a sign at the Belize Int’l Airport warning people about CON ARTIST Clinton Hernadez..