Fraudulent land transfers rarely occur
06/08/2007 New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Fraudulent land transfers are rare, according to the deputy director-general of the Land and Mines Department (development and operations), Datuk Mazbar Abu Bakar.

When he was asked to comment on a recent case involving a 2004 land transfer that was supposedly signed for by a trustee who had died in 1997, he said:

"In my personal view, the system in place and the National Land Code offers sufficient protection for property owners."

Mazbar’s comments appear to contradict a statement by the Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum in parliament recently that land transfers using forged signatures had been on the increase since 2001.

He said 16 such cases were recorded in 2001, 19 in 2002, 22 in 2003, 32 in 2004, 35 in 2005 and 40 in 2006. There were 16 cases in the first five months of this year.

According to Bar Council conveyancing practice committee chairman Roger Tan, the feedback from his members was that there had been a rise in cases where land titles were forged.

"The computerisation of the land offices has also given rise to mistakes," Tan said.

In recent months, there have been calls for the National Land Code to be amended to protect the rights of property owners.