Boat Captain Reports Losing Thousands in Alleged Land Sale Scam

Police are investigating a report of obtaining money transfer by deception after a Belize City boat captain says he lost thousands of dollars in what he believed was a legitimate land purchase.  Forty-four-year-old Juan Carlos Vasquez of Faber’s Road Extension reported to Precinct Two Crimes Investigation Branch that on April 8, 2025 he began communicating with a man identifying himself as Melbourne Wade about purchasing a parcel of land.  According to Vasquez, on September 19 Wade informed him via WhatsApp that a woman named Brithney Williams urgently wanted to sell land located at eight-and-a-half miles on the John Smith Road in the Belize District at a reduced price. Vasquez says he was provided with copies of a lease document, a zero-balance receipt for an Application for Grant Fiat in Williams’ name, and a copy of her Belize Social Security card.  He expressed interest in the property and the following day received Williams’ contact information. The two arranged a meeting in Ladyville where he picked up a woman who identified herself as Brithney Williams at the Puma Gas Station. They later travelled to Belize City where Vasquez prepared a receipt for two thousand five hundred Belize dollars as payment toward the land purchase. The document was stamped by a Justice of the Peace, and the money was transferred to a bank account provided by the woman.  Vasquez told police that after the payment, the woman repeatedly claimed she was waiting on the Grant Fiat and on October 22, requested an additional nine hundred dollars to complete the transfer. He declined to send the extra funds.  However, on February 12, a check at the Lands Department revealed the property had already been transferred into another person’s name.  Police have recorded a statement and are now seeking a woman identified as Brittney Williams as investigations continue.