Land lost via forgery can be recovered: Dept
Published on: Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Kota Kinabalu: All is not lost should landowners suddenly find they have become victims of forgery - and even if the realisation is stumbled upon much later."They may still be able to reclaim what is rightfully theirs if it is proven beyond doubt that the documents used in the transfer of such land had been forged, said Lands and Survey Director Datuk Osman Jamal."Hence, landowners have nothing to worry as the law is very clear about this," assured Osman, and advised those who had lost their lands through falsification of documents to lodge a police report so that investigations could be carried out.
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He was commenting on the case involving a Taiwanese who claimed last week to have been shocked to find that some of his landed properties had changed hands without his knowledge upon returning to the State 12 years later.Lin Yun Chun, a businessman from Taiwan, claimed he bought 10 properties in Tuaran and Papar way back in 1997. However, upon returning to Sabah 12 years later, he was shocked to learn that some of his properties had "switched hands" without his knowledge through a falsified Power of Attorney (PA).Lin then went to the Kota Kinabalu Lands and Survey office to do land search and found that his land had been transferred to a third party without his or his co-owner's knowledge or consent. He lodged two reports in 2009, where he denied having entered/signed/appointed anyone to give his PA to deal with his lands, adding that all the documents including the PA and Sales and Purchase agreement that were made in his name were forged because the originals were in his possession.
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Osman said according to the documents in the Lands and Survey office, what was mentioned by the Taiwanese national as reported in the newspaper was true."Out of five land tiles involved, one of them was transferred to a Private Limited company registered in Malaysia through PA and transfer of ownership was done and processed through a legal firm," said Osman.
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He pointed out that all the signatories such the person who gave the PA and the person who received such PA were attested to by a well-known lawyer who had his own legal firm in Kota Kinabalu and was a Justice of Peace (JP).Asked whether there was any possibility that the PA and the signature of the lawyer was falsified, Osman said it would be better for the police to complete their investigations into the matter.If the police determine that such PA was forged, the land could be returned to the real owner through a court order.Osman noted that the name of the PA holder is a Malaysian, though not a local Sabahan.In this context, he said, there was often a tendency to unfairly point fingers at personnel in his Department as having a hand without realising that like what happened to the Taiwanese, everything was done according to the legal process with the lawyers involved attesting all the documents."If such documents were done according to the requirements of the law, my department has no choice but to process and accept such transaction," he said. On what is the procedure if someone claims to have lost their original land titles and want to get a certified true copy, Osman said they must first lodge a police report and then refer it to Department which, in turn, would conduct an inquiry and publish in the newspaper all details about the land title for a month."All in all it takes three months for the whole process in order to get a certified true copy of the land title upon publication in the newspaper," said Osman.In obtaining a certified true copy of such land titles and all transactions such as Memorandum of Transfer (MoT), everything is done according to the law as well as land ordinance.Osman said according to the Department's records, on Aug. 26, 2009, landowner Lin Yun Chun, through his lawyer Tan Pang, Tsen and Co, wrote to his department with affidavit and police reports. Lands and Surveys had taken action by carrying out a "Collector Caveat" to ensure such properties would not be transferred by the said PA holder.On whether any of his staff could have been involved in the fraud, Osman said: "Let the police investigate and take action." According to Osman one of its staff in Sipitang was arrested after it was found that he had forged someone's signature. "This proves that where there is any wrongdoing, the Department will not protect the staff."Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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