Man on fraud charges over bogus land deals

Neil Benjamin
Neil Benjamin

Neil Benjamin, an Enterprise, East Coast Demerara man who allegedly collected almost half a million dollars from a woman on the pretext of being able to get her land, was yesterday charged with two counts of fraud.

It was alleged that on April 24th, 2018, at Vlissingen Road, Benjamin, 53, with intent to defraud, obtained $253,000 from Shelly Ann Peters by falsely pretending that he was in a position to provide her with a plot of land, knowing same to be false. 

Benjamin initially pleaded guilty to the charge but after he stated that the money was not collected for the purpose mentioned in the charge, the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

It was also alleged that on April 27 th, 2018, at Vlissingen Road, Benjamin, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of $200,000 from Peters by falsely pretending that he was in a position to provide a plot of land, knowing the claim to be false. 

Benjamin denied the charge. 

Magistrate Leron Daly subsequently granted him his release on a total of $120,000 bail.

Benjamin was previously charged with fraud in 2016, when it was alleged that he scammed a man out of almost $5,000,000.