Remember the doctor from Connecticut, US, who returned to land he bought in 1991 to find a $1.5 million house already on it? – a South African man has been accused of fraudulently selling the property.
The man from Johannesburg, South Africa, allegedly used a fake passport to impersonate the American doctor and sell his property last year.
The passport featured the wrong birthdate, photo, and address.
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If proven, the sale of Dr Daniel Kenigsberg’s property was fraudulent.
The doctor, who specializes in endocrinology, had been living elsewhere.
Upon his return, he was horrified to discover that the South African had allegedly sold his land.
The trees that had previously stood there had been been felled and a nearly $1.5-million, four-bedroom mansion built on the plot.
Dr Daniel Kenigsberg had inherited the land from his parents and planned to keep it untouched. It had been in the family for over 70 years.
The 70-year-old doctor was alerted to the construction by a friend in May 2023.
The friend had driven past the address and was shocked to see a house under construction.
Situated in New Haven, Connecticut, Dr Kenigsberg bought the half-acre strip at 51 Sky Top Terrace back in 1991.
His father bought the home nearby for just $5,000 in 1953 – so it had sentimental significance, too.
His family even bought the lot directly from Eleazar Parmly Jr. – the family that settled in the area in 1716.
He obtained the deed to it after his mother died in 2007.
Dr. Kenigsberg raised his family in Long Island, after medical school in New York and a residency in Maryland, per Greenwichtime.
Despite leaving the lot vacant for several decades, Dr Kenigsberg never let go of his dream of one day moving back to the area.
“Certainly if one of my children wanted to live in Fairfield, Connecticut, I’d be very happy about that,” Kenigsberg said.
Recalling the conversation, he told CT Insider: “I said: ‘I own that and I never sold it’. I was shocked.”
He visited the site and saw an almost completed four-bedroom house that was valued at $1.45 million to be precise.
According to its listing, the home was under offer in March.
Lawyer, Anthony Monelli, was hired and official records state that the land was sold to 51 Sky Top Partners LLC for $350,000 in October 2022.
However, Kenigsberg claims he knows nothing about the sale or the property.
He took legal action and is suing the firm on nine counts.
The fraudulent sale, for $350,000, took place in October 2022, according to the New York Post.
Per the Washington Post, a lawsuit has been lodged demanding the deed transfer be overturned, and the property dismantled.
Construction has been halted until a verdict is reached.
Dr Kenigsberg’s signature was apparently forged.
“Dr Kenigsberg has never lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was not traveling there in 2022,” the lawsuit says.
Defendants Monelli and 51 Sky are not accused of being behind the scheme.
However, they are accused because they knew or should have caught the forgery.
“It looks like somebody from South Africa reached out to maybe the broker and maybe Attorney Monelli,” the doctor’s lawyer told CT Insider.
“Apparently there are scammers around the country doing this kind of thing.”
The lawsuit accuses local attorney Anthony Monelli of using a forged power of attorney document to say he was Kenigsberg’s lawyer.
Local police in Fairfield are also investigating.
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