Caught in the act: Police nab bribe-taker posing as HDC official

Police have caught a man trying to take a bribe to help a woman get a house from the state Housing Development Corporation (HDC). The man was caught in a sting operation.

A local media report Wednesday said the woman had reported that the man had already collected money from her and alerted police about the time and place when he would meet her to collect the rest.

The report said the 45-year-old man, who was posing as an employee of the HDC, is wanted by Fraud Squad on four fraud related matters.

The Newsday newspaper reported that its sources say HDC security officials have a photo ID and a background file on the man who has been scamming unsuspecting members of the public of their cash in return for promised HDC homes.

Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal commended the HDC security department and police for the arrest.

“I have received reports from applicants who have claimed to have given money to persons portraying themselves to be employees of the HDC in San Fernando. I have been putting together the information and I will be handing over that information to the Security Department of HDC on Thursday of this week and they will be conducting an inquiry into the matter,” Moonilal told Newsday.

The paper said a senior employee of the HDC is now under probe for his involvement in the illegal distribution of unoccupied HDC homes throughout the country and that police have received several statements from persons who claimed to have received keys to HDC homes through the intervention of the HDC official.

It said one woman in Morvant admitted that she paid an official of the HDC - through a third party - $5,000 to get the home. The securiy department is also investigating reports of illegal tenats at HDC homes, the paper reoported.

The Security Department of the HDC told the paper: “What we have unearthed has far reaching implications as there seems to be a network of employees within the HDC who are engaged in illegal activities.”