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This is two acres of land on the Four Mile Lagoon in Corozal. Because of the water frontage It's considered prime real estate and has a market value of more than half a million US dollars. The owner is Mike Feinstein but three months ago - a friend alerted him that someone else was developing his property. They removed the coconut trees, tore down his cement fence - put up a new, higher one, and loaded it up with about four feet of fill.

Feinstein told us he sent the persons who thought they were the new owners a warning. But, they continued working and three weeks ago Feinstein himself went back there with police to stop the work. By that time, the persons presenting themselves as the new owners had already spent about 75 thousand dollars developing the property.

This is reportedly one of the documents they had - looks legit but it's bogus. It's a fake "receipt of instrument" - the kind that is prepared when someone is applying for title by prescription, or squatters' rights.

The parcel ID is correct but the instrument number or LRS points to a property at the other end of the country in Punta Gorda - and Santa Elena Corozal is not a recognized municipality. So, it's a manifest fraud but how the owners Michael and Dawn Reid claimed "title by prescription" is unclear. We contacted Dawn Reid - herself a realtor - who told us she's focused on family and Christmas at this time of year and will reach out sometime after that.

We also reached out to Helen Black - who according to reports was the real estate agent who set up the deal. She told us our information was incorrect, quote, "I was not an agent in any of that." She added, quote, "No one can sell Land owned by someone else except for gob."

So, what inspired and empowered the Reid's to go and take over this valuable property and to spend so much developing it? Was it the power of this bogus claim to title by But whatever illusion they laboured under, the true owner Mike Feinstein went there three weeks ago and got them to stop the trespass. And while he's got a new fence, he lost his coconut trees. There are other properties being similarly developed in the area - one of them is for a Glenn Godfrey company - and it's unclear if these properties are being claimed by others the same way.

It's a setup which industry observers say could point to a fraud ring that involves North American real estate agents.

We note that earlier this year a Corozal Based Real Estate company named Bellcan projects alleged publicly that Helen Black was fraudulently trying to sell sections of their property. They also sent her a lawyer's letter to cease and desist selling sections of Bellcan's property.

We confirmed with the Lands Department that Feinstein's land has not been involved in any transactions or transfers for over a decade - so anything arising would be fraudulent.