Two people have been remanded into custody after they appeared before a magistrate to face charges of fraud and forgery when they tried to sell a plot of land they did not own to a senior policeman.
Police said the first division officer saw an advertisement for land for sale in Santa Cruz in a newspaper late last year and called the number provided.
The officer made arrangements to meet the people who advertised the land for sale.
He met a man and woman who claimed to be the owners of the land at an attorney’s office, where they showed him a deed, passports and national Identification Cards which they claimed to own.
The officer became suspicious as there were several inconsistencies in the story of how the acquired the land and made a report to the Fraud Squad who launched an investigation.
The investigation revealed that the deed, ID cards and passports were all forged.
Police arranged a sting operation last Thursday and arrested the man and woman at Long Circular Mall, St James.
They were charged with a total of seven charges which include forgery by possession, uttering a forged document and conspiracy to commit fraud.
They appeared before a San Fernando magistrate on Monday to face the charges.
Police suspect the man and woman held are part of a larger network of fraudsters who use forged documents to defraud the public.