# Brazil Teak Plantation SCAM - advice on land ownership



## eng

Hi,

I am (one of the many) helpless investor who have invested in a plot of land with teak trees, located in Belem (Para) via a UK company. Now the company is currently in liquidation and the two directors have declared personal bankruptcy.

We would like to understand what we were actually being sold and after many unsuccessful attempts to find any local (Brazil) assistance, I found this website and hope someone would be able to give us some insight in relation to land ownership in Brazil.

We (the group of investors) were led to believe that we were sold a full leasehold title of the plot of land, and hence when the company goes down, the plot of land would be the security for us. However, after given our contracts to a UK lawyer for review, we were told that what we were sold are no more than a license to the rental income derived from the plot of land and the thinning of the teak trees. As such, we are looking for avenues to confirm whether we were sold a full leasehold title or a license that’s worthless. 

I’d be grateful if someone could help as answering a few questions: 

- How do you find out who owns particular plots of land in Belem (Para) ? Are there any public records for this? 

- From my understanding, the UK company who sold us the trees + land, owns a Brazilian company which owns the land. Is it even possible for them to divide the land and sell it on to individual investors? 

- What kind of certificate does one need to have in order to have a full ‘leasehold’ title to a land plot?

Once again, any help would be much appreciated! If anyone can refer me to someone who has the knowledge, that would be much appreciated too!

Many thanks!!

Regards,
Elsa


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## AnthonyRMC

In my 26 years of living here, I am tired of seeing these types of 'scams'.
NOBODY should buy anything here unless they actually come down here first. - "Kick the tyres" as our American friends like to say.
It would be better to have a fully fluent translater also, preferably from the UK/USA (wherever) because not even all the lawyers are honest. I'm not saying that a foreigner would be honest either, but you could get a 'feel' for him/her. Foreigners here do tend to be trustworthy in general.

Yes, it is possible to find out the real ownership of the land, but don't hold out too many hopes. :sorry:

I am far from Belém, or maybe I could be of more help. 

If you pursure this more, you might well be dumping more money down the drain.
If you come down here without a serious guide (especially Belém/Amazon,) you could well end up dead if you push things.


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## warlock233

It's very likely this place doesn't even exist.
I guess your best hope would be trying to solve this in the UK with UK lawyers against the UK company.
I guess if the UK company actually owns something in Brazil, then the UK Justice/Gov would be able to issue some sort of request to the Brazilian Justice/Gov and investigate it further.

The state of Para is a very remote place. Belem is a medium/big city, but it's too far away from the biggest economical centers. If you can find a local willing to help, s/he could visit a public Notary and check who owns the land at a particular address.
Still, I don't see where this could lead you... If you can't solve this in the UK using the UK justice system, I think you'd better forget about it.

I've seen people (locals) who "bought" land, but never signed or requested the right papers. Years later, when these people want to sell or do something with the land, they found out that someone else owned it and the seller never had anything to do with it. They were selling something they didn't own and fooling "less informed" people. Needless to say that these people never saw they money again.

As Anthony said, don't come down here to try to solve this. In these places sometimes killing someone to solve a problem isn't much of a big deal.

Good luck.


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## eng

Hi AnthonyRMC / Warlock233

Many thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my post! 

You both have similar suggestions to many I've spoken to, as well as my lawyer - at the moment we (the group of investors) have hired a UK lawyer to deal with it within the UK, but nothing else is happening on the Brazil side. However, I'm not too hopeful with recouping anything back with the UK lawyer's help, after all the real asset is in Brazil. That's why I want to look into what else could be done.

The scam was actually designed by two british businessmen, who purchased the teak plantation in Brazil, and resold it to hundreds of individual investors...


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## AnthonyRMC

eng said:


> The scam was actually designed by two british businessmen, who purchased the teak plantation in Brazil, and resold it to hundreds of individual investors...


I really wonder if they ever purchased land here in the first place?

It is not that difficult to get a bunch of false documents made up here.


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## warlock233

I did some reading about it - this sounds really really bad.

And as I thought, from what I read, it really seems probably nothing exists down here. They could have said they were investing on anything, from fishes to oil... I guess your only hope is to solve this in the UK courts.

Good luck!


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## eng

Thanks Warlock233!


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