Last week police reported they were looking for a con man who scammed thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Belize City families interested in buying land.
Police say the families paid thousands of dollars to the man who in turn gave them phony land titles. In an interview you will see only on 7NEWS, one of his victims Yvonne Rivero sat down with Keith Swift to share her story which started with a dream of land ownership and ended in a nightmare.
Keith Swift Reporting,
It seemed almost too good to be true when a sharp-tongued salesman pitched to Yvonne Rivero and her family the chance to own a piece of land.
Yvonne Rivero, Victim of Fraud
“We want a good life and somebody came and paint a beautiful picture to you and you feel that you can…I don’t know how to explain myself but it feels good for someone to come and tell you they can help you get a piece of land and you just pay so much towards.”
But that dream of land ownership turned into a nightmare. A nightmare which began back in February when they met William Burke. This is the only picture we have been get of the suspect, who police have yet to formally name. Rivero alleges he conned her family out of $17,000 leaving them with a pile of bogus land titles and thousands of dollars in receipts; all useless.
The trail of deceit leads to Yvonne’s sister in law a mother of 9 to whom the man claiming to represent Assad Shoman Jr. made his sales pitch.
Yvonne Rivero,
“He told her he could her. She told him I don’t want you to mess me up and I hope it is something legit you are dealing with and he told her yes. She told him to start collect from her on Friday. He told her he would bring the documents so he brought the form for her to fill out and he took it. He came back the Friday and he told her the land costs $1,500, how much can you give me? She told him she is only making about $75 right now a week. He told her if he could give her $50 or $25 it would help and she started to pay every Friday. And then she came to me and she told me what is happening and I asked if she is sure. She said yes and everything is okay and I don’t think he would con me because she has 9 kids; the oldest 15 and the youngest 2 weeks. So she sad she felt that it was legit.”
And pretty soon the entire family bought into his scam and also signed on the dotted line for land at mile 8, in Lake I, and San Pedro. Yvonne says they struggled to do it but made their payments weekly and the man they knew as William Burke would always come to collect whether it was $50 dollars or $850 dollars.
Yvonne Rivero,
“It was really hard because $75 a week can’t take care of 9 kids but she still took the money out of that. At the time my brother wasn’t working so she said if the children have to starve to get a good life she would do it. That’s the idea she had: if I give $50 a week and I end up owning a house and my 9 kids could live in there where we had no problems or no one to put us out then its something good I am doing.”
He also always provided receipts but never signed his own name; the signature on all the receipts is that of Assad Shoman Jr..
The depth of the scam deepened when the family received these correspondences from the lands department concerning their title – police have yet to verify if the signatures are legit. And get this: Burke even took them on a tour of the land they thought they were paying for.
Yvonne Rivero,
“My daughter Lelani she asked if she could see the land. She said the land she is paying for she wanted to see. He came back on a Saturday and he took her to the back by St. Martin’s at the back of Lake I and he showed her the piece of land. My sister-in-law had already gone to see hers the week before when he took her walking and she went and she saw her piece of land and then he showed my daughter hers. So all 4 pieces of land were right beside each other. These land were behind Lake I and now we found out the land has been put aside for a football field by Mr. Cordel Hyde. He plans to make it into a football field.”
It might have been intended to be a football field but these land titles which were signed and sealed said otherwise.
Yvonne Rivero,
“Yes that’s the land title.”
KS: So you all got titles for these pieces of land?
Yvonne Rivero,
“Yes we did.”
But later the family would realize that those were bogus, Assad Shoman Jr. never existed, the correspondences were forged, and the receipts were useless - and not to mention they were out $17,000.
Yvonne Rivero,
“Damn its like nearly your whole life savings. You know how hard it is to work and try save $10,000 and to just give it to somebody just like that is hard. Its really really hard. You go in and you try talk to the Minister to get a piece of land and they have you around and around because you don’t have anything. Then somebody come by and say they are going to help you and you just need to pay a little amount of money over a certain time and then you own something you feel good. But to see that you just gave it away its hard, especially these days. Things are really hard and to give away that amount of money is…”
“I know we won’t get it back but I think that its best that public knows what’s happening and stop him because he’s dealing with a lot of poor people. I know that a lot of people he’s dealing with is having it hard just like how we had it hard to pay him.”
“Stop doing what you are doing because you are messing up people’s lives. You are hurting a lot of people. I can get back on my feet but some people won’t be able to get back on their feet.”
And once she does get back on her feet, Yvonne says she plans to continue dreaming about land ownership.
The family says the man has been seen recently as this week in a local bank. Police have made no arrests but say they are investigating.