Irish man claims his house, land worth Bt65 million defrauded

[nontabury]

I have little sympathy for the greedy.

Why was he greedy,please explain.

[Fairynuff]

I saw that on TV yesterday. What the police spokeman explained was that the house was in the wife name. She used it as collateral for a loan she couldn't pay back. They went to court, the wife lost and the house was repossessed. Case closed. Unfortunetly a very common story.[/quot

You're assuming that what the spokesperson said is true. TIT

[Crash999]

Been following this case closely. Story keeps changing. The ex wife was brought in as a maid then Colin had relations with her and the son was born. He after decided he preferred freedom and the relationship was to come to an end. Unfortunately he had added her to his properties and she was also collecting his rent from the various properties. Needless to say she lost the plot and allegedly with a katoey friend threw the two kids down a well when the father was off somewhere for a couple days. Properties were sold without Colin knowing (forged signature- of course very illegal) and she did a runner upcountry. At some point she took the son with her which he characterized as kidnapping as she wanted money to give the son back. Finally he found her and pursued a court case that left her in jail. Whole saga is on Drummond's website in various interviews over the years.

Now the story is she was just an innocent victim of a gang of crooks. No doubt some people conspired with her but she doesn't appear to be innocent at all.

[KamalaRider]

Sadly, I don't think he will ever see any of the money again, too long past, too many hands

in the pot, he's a foreigner not allowed to own land, so it seems that everything is stacked

against him here... he should be carful that now, he might be a target for the crocks to try

to silence him....

Ohhh, again and again people assume wrongly instead of read up on things.

He didn't own the land, his Thai company did.

And if you would know anything about Mr.Vard and his ordeal you would know that this is a CLEAR example of being a target of the Thai mafia and one Thai womans greed.

[Valentine]

Been following this case closely. Story keeps changing. The ex wife was brought in as a maid then Colin had relations with her and the son was born. He after decided he preferred freedom and the relationship was to come to an end. Unfortunately he had added her to his properties and she was also collecting his rent from the various properties. Needless to say she lost the plot and allegedly with a katoey friend threw the two kids down a well when the father was off somewhere for a couple days. Properties were sold without Colin knowing (forged signature- of course very illegal) and she did a runner upcountry. At some point she took the son with her which he characterized as kidnapping as she wanted money to give the son back. Finally he found her and pursued a court case that left her in jail. Whole saga is on Drummond's website in various interviews over the years.

Now the story is she was just an innocent victim of a gang of crooks. No doubt some people conspired with her but she doesn't appear to be innocent at all.

No access to his website now. Shut down by the government.

[empireboy]

The "Luck of the Irish" strikes again?

[wvavin]

How on earth can a foreigner own land in this country?

[KarenBravo]

How on earth can a foreigner own land in this country?

Just arrived in Thailand, have you?

[English 1]

So it appears that his ex Wife, who of course owned the land, used the deeds to get money to pay her debts.

A typical Thai happening.

[Fairynuff]

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

What you call trolls are most likely people that have been burned in Thailand, one way or the other... Their voice is just as valid as yours, whether you like it or not... Advocating banning people due to their views, however much you disagree with them, says more about you than them...

Trolls voices are NOT valid. Trolls make comments that are purely for their own and like minded fools entertainment. They do nothing to promote a good forum. You can put your point of view that contradicts an OP without being nasty. I don't advocate banning trolls because they just come back with another name. Trolls just want attention ..

[jalansanitwong]

if this farang is so well off why didnt he buy property in south of France ,Spain or the Greek islands where he legally owns it! He could then come out to Thailand whenever he has the urge and stay in a nice 5 star hotel.

These guys are fools. His ex wife seems to be in the middle of all this mess. . You never marry these isan village girls because they gamble and will use the title deed for collateral with loan sharks.

money gone - house gone very common throughout Thailand. The old guys are the easiest and most sought after in LOS for marriage.

Take a look at the old farang sitting on the ground. His Thai wife set him up on the first day they met. Money gone ...... shes now gone. Same old story. Old farangs never learn.

Edited June 3, 2015 by jalansanitwong

[KarenBravo]

if this farang is so well off why didnt he buy property in south of France ,Spain or the Greek islands where he legally owns it! He could then come out to Thailand whenever he has the urge and stay in a nice 5 star hotel.

These guys are fools. His ex wife seems to be in the middle of all this mess. . You never marry these isan village girls because they gamble and will use the title deed for collateral with loan sharks.

money gone - house gone very common throughout Thailand. You can never trust these Thai women. They set farangs up the first day they meet. The old guys are the easiest and most sought after in LOS for marriage.

Yawn........Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

[Guest]

How on earth can a foreigner own land in this country?

Just arrived in Thailand, have you?

Hey Karen, .. words do have meaning.

Please examine "...foreigner own land in this country."

The answer is , "A foreigner can not own land in Thailand."

This FACT is at the core of this story. Not quite sure what your problem is ... get up on the wrong side of bed today, have you?

Edited June 3, 2015 by Guest

[KarenBravo]

How on earth can a foreigner own land in this country?

Just arrived in Thailand, have you?

Hey Karen, While I sort of get your rude reply .. words do have meaning.

Please examine "...foreigner own land in this country."

The answer is , "A foreigner can not own land in Thailand."

This FACT is at the core of this story. Not quite sure what your problem is ... get up on the wrong side of bed today, have you?

Why don't you actually READ and COMPREHEND the article.

It clearly says he didn't own the land. He quite legally leased it for 30 years. His signature was forged to null the leases.

What has foreigners owning land in Thailand got to do with this case?

[johninbkk]

He's got balls.

On Ya Mate!.

Let's hope Khun Prayut gets wind of it.

[SOTIRIOS]

....hopefully reform against corruption preached by this government will benefit foreigners too...

...there is enough inormation here for the army to investigate.....

..people come here with love in their hearts...ready to share all they have......

...and this is often the result.....

...I am there too right now.....

...it's just not right....and obviously so..........

[davidron]

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

I think a lot of the trolling is down to sour grapes- people with no money resentful and jealous of people who have money to lose. Simple as that.

Very aptly said. So true.

Some come to this country because they have nothing in their own countries and then these stories remind them of the void and hungry yesteryears back home. What they write here is a reflection of that resentment.

Some trollic translations:

"Stupid man, didn't do his research" = "Grrrrrrr, stupid me, I don't have what he has/had"

"Liar! He never had what he claims to have lost" = "I can't believe I don't have 65 followed by six zeros in my Thai account"

"Another naive farang... Stupid and dumb" = "Another someone who reminds me of what I never had, won't ever have, wished I had."

Edited June 3, 2015 by davidron

[SaamBaht]

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

Just because someone has an opinion that you do not agree with does not make the comment a troll posting.

This man comes to Thailand, starts spending huge amounts of money without any understanding of what he is getting into an still believed he owned something.

He was destined to become a victim the moment he stepped off the plane, and there will be many more behind him.

Yes I feel sorry for him, but before splashing out huge sums of money in a foreign land he needs to read up and understand what due diligence is all about.

Yeah, you're right. Come to a land of government backed thieves and you're bound to lose a bundle.

[captspectre]

This is why you only invest what you can afford to lose they are a very crooked lot in phuket.

An often used, but, ultimately meaningless statement.

it is a"meaningless" statement only if you are STUPID enough to invest in anything especially land in Thailand! when oh when will the gullible foreigner learn?

[shaurene]

It's the same old story. He comes here falls for a much younger lady, his brain falls down to his small head between his legs, believes all things she say.

They come here to live a nice life, why not just buy a nice condo, nice car and just enjoy retirement doing business in a foreign country especially like Thailand where all officials and the business people have one thing in common, money, and have the official people to back them up.

Wow, that is a lot of money he lost, he could have had a condo in his name not his wife/GF.

When I first came here I bought 2 condos off the plans in Pattaya 2mill Baht it was never built and it was an English guy Trevor Anthill who owned the property company, Kensington Realalty his lawyer was in on it with him. This guy did a runner with an estimated 100mil. I found out later 4 yrs before this he did the same thing.

I learnt my lesson the hard way.

[KarenBravo]

This is why you only invest what you can afford to lose they are a very crooked lot in phuket.

An often used, but, ultimately meaningless statement.

it is a"meaningless" statement only if you are STUPID enough to invest in anything especially land in Thailand! when oh when will the gullible foreigner learn?

See post #24.

[Fairynuff]

if this farang is so well off why didnt he buy property in south of France ,Spain or the Greek islands where he legally owns it! He could then come out to Thailand whenever he has the urge and stay in a nice 5 star hotel.

These guys are fools. His ex wife seems to be in the middle of all this mess. . You never marry these isan village girls because they gamble and will use the title deed for collateral with loan sharks.

money gone - house gone very common throughout Thailand. The old guys are the easiest and most sought after in LOS for marriage.

Take a look at the old farang sitting on the ground. His Thai wife set him up on the first day they met. Money gone ...... shes now gone. Same old story. Old farangs never learn.

Are all your posts as useful as this one?

[steelepulse]

For all you geniuses that don't bother to get the facts, HE HAD A LEGITIMATE 30 YEAR LEASE AND HIS SIGNATURE WAS FORGED TO SELL THE PROPERTY. This is the basis of him losing the property due to fraud and corruption.

Edited June 3, 2015 by steelepulse

[alfalfa19]

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

well said, and I agree completely. the stupidity and cruelty of some of the posts makes me think there are a few guys here with very sad lives, or no lives whatsoever.

[maidee]

were the police, lawyers , loansharks, family of his soon to be ex-wife ?

he can't own land, we all know that, thank you thailand for your xenophobic laws...

why the west don't use reciprocal laws, to forbid thais to own land in farang land, i don't know, maybe because they would be sued till the bone for race discrimination ?

[Colabamumbai]

It started with his wife owing money. Gambling debts maybe?

In Thailand only invest what you can afford to lose.

[Crash999]

How on earth can a foreigner own land in this country?

Aside from some exceptional situations you can't. Guy owned a property company and the company owned the land. So foreigners can control land but not directly own land.

Such companies can't be majority foreign owned so you need Thai shareholders. Either you get someone you trust a lot or more commonly lawyers will provide 'nominee' shareholders which are basically people paid to use their signature. The minority foreign shareholder is given preferential voting rights so in theory no decisions can be made without the foreigner's agreement.

This is the structure the government threatens to crack down on every few years, then there is a huge uproar and it quietly goes away again

[timewilltell]

I saw that on TV yesterday. What the police spokeman explained was that the house was in the wife name. She used it as collateral for a loan she couldn't pay back. They went to court, the wife lost and the house was repossessed. Case closed. Unfortunetly a very common story.

The land was in the wife's name but the house was on a thirty year lease to her husband. They forged his signature to cancel his lease!

No. That is the other family similarly targeted by organized gangs of money lenders, lawyers and land agents which you can see on the Facebook page relating to this story. This story is explained on the Justice For Jessie Facebook page which gives far more explanation than the short article. The other page you can find by searching #TySaysNo.

There is a lot of information there which will help for a better understanding but 80% of the responders on this forum need not bother given their contempt and ignorance for a family destroyed by a corrupt system. As foreigners we should be supporting this guy because the concepts go way beyond a girl cheating a man. The corruption goes to every aspect of life and set ups crafted here specifically targeting foreigners which the court system refuses to tackled aptly aided by lawyers who are openly racist.

To those who say this man is an idiot, probably those who have never been able to acquire a retirement fund and are thus jealous of someone who has achieved some success in life, perhaps you will be singing a different tune if set up on a drugs charge or some other scam designed to disadvantage you.

The point is the issue touches everyone to a greater or lesser extent. At least take the time to really understand the issues before condemning a family destroyed by corruption.

Perhaps some think foreigners should not be able to run a business for profit here. Yet I see no criticism of Toyota or Western Digital. Every company has to employ Thais and ultimately the small operators put their earning back into the economy. Some think that foreigners should not be entitled to 30 year leases or any security to bring up a family - fine - continue renting your little rooms and screwing the rent girls or boys.

Sms of the posts show the same lack of humanity shown to the Rohingya and it is sickening.

[KarenBravo]

Tell me is there any shortage of trolls on here, a guy and his family have had everything stolen on them, they are fellow expats and from what i read, just drivel comes out of some people statements, quick and short troll comments, have you guys no intelligence or emphaty, what if it happened to you or your best mate or your family??

2 children locked in a water well and only for a neighbour found them they could have died!

Properties stolen with the full knowledge fo the family lawyer.

Trolls should be banned and their IP blocked in such circumstances. The whole meaning of an expat community is the word Community, a place of support and protection

well said, and I agree completely. the stupidity and cruelty of some of the posts makes me think there are a few guys here with very sad lives, or no lives whatsoever.

A great example of how to construct a complete house using only three bricks. Congratulations.

[AlQaholic]

I saw that on TV yesterday. What the police spokeman explained was that the house was in the wife name. She used it as collateral for a loan she couldn't pay back. They went to court, the wife lost and the house was repossessed. Case closed. Unfortunetly a very common story.

Do I understand it right, the loan was for 600 k? If the House is used as security, it should have been auctioned off, then the loan paid from the proceeds and if anything is left, it should have been given to the owners.

So a 65mil house should have had a hefty sum left after being sold to cover the Dept of 600K?

I am not familiar with the case, but something smells fishy. Could anyone explain what went on and how it was done? This might be beneficial for others, not to get trapped same way.

I one reads the article, one will understand that the 65M is the value of the Land Property development company that he was running containing a number of land plots with a number of houses on them.

But it is correct that what is said, according the law, the house that was held as security should have been auctioned off to cover the debt. I am sure his house itself was worth considerably more than 600,000 Baht. So definitely a fraud.