Minister Croal: Creative crooks targeting housing sector, report them

Fraudsters targeting the housing sector are using increasingly creative tactics, Housing Minister Colin Croal has warned, urging citizens to report all suspicious cases to help authorities clamp down on corruption.

Speaking on a recent episode of the Starting Point podcast, Croal said the Ministry of Housing is intensifying efforts to eliminate fraudulent activities and strengthen transparency within the sector.

“We’ve been working very closely with the Guyana Police Force and we also have an arm within the Central Housing and Planning Authority for investigative work to be done in this regard. We do have complaints sometimes and they’re investigated,” Croal said.

He detailed several ongoing scams involving bogus land allocation letters, fake receipts issued through MMG, and individuals impersonating ministry staff to deceive citizens seeking house lots.

Croal noted that recent cases in Region Three involved residents receiving fraudulent phone calls claiming they had been allocated house lots, a tactic that highlights the evolving nature of such schemes.

“We’re taking in all complaints. Even if you have any scenario. Please report that,” he urged, emphasising the importance of public cooperation in identifying and prosecuting offenders.

However, the minister acknowledged a key challenge — the reluctance of some victims to provide formal statements, which hampers the ability to lay charges and pursue cases in court.

“Yes, somebody files a complaint to say I’ve been duped — but we need the statements, and they don’t want to go onwards. That’s what we want to encourage persons to do,” he said.

Despite these hurdles, Croal said the ministry has successfully prosecuted several perpetrators with support from law enforcement agencies.

“Every week there’s some complaint of somebody being duped somewhere. We want to have successful prosecution. We want to eliminate any attempts of anybody who’s trying to defraud in any shape or form,” he emphasised.

Croal reiterated the ministry’s commitment to transparency, stressing that collaborative investigative efforts between the Housing Ministry and the police remain key to rooting out corruption and protecting citizens from scams.