ILLEGAL TRANSFER OF PROPERTY THROUGH GPA

This particular case that Manjit Kaur from Ferozepur brought to us, was a sad case of a general power of attorney being misused to indulge in illegal transfer of property in somebody else’s name. She came forward with this issue on behalf of her Uncle Gurmeet Singh who lived in Preston and unfortunately was living the life of a dependent since he was disabled. Worse, his son, Harjeet Singh turned a drug addict and was no longer under the control of his father – or for that matter, anybody else! However, Gurmeet was keen to do his best for Harjeet’s wife Manmeet so that she would have financial security for her life as well as for the upbringing of her children.  

With this in mind, he thought of his property in Ferozepur and felt he could sell it off to build up a stable base for her. Since he couldn’t have been travelling back and forth to India, he got in touch with his old friend Gurjinder Singh and decided to give him a General Power of Attorney (GPA) to carry out all transactions related to the property in Ferozepur. This would have involved selling off the property and depositing the proceeds in Gurmeet’s or Manmeet’s accounts. Gurjinder Singh, however, turned a new leaf and betrayed his close friend in greed of the property gain. Manmeet’s parents who lived in Ferozepur discovered that Gurjinder used the GPA to transfer the property in his wife’s name. Further, he filed criminal complaints against Gurmeet Singh and his son so that they wouldn’t be able to visit India to take any action. Since Manmeet’s parents lived in India, Gurjinder would also keep threatening them because he knew they were the only local people who could take action against him. With the help of some local policemen, he also got summons issued against Manmeet’s brothers.

Finally, Gurmeet Singh’s niece approached the NRI Legal Services Preston office on his behalf urging the team there to do something for her Uncle. The crux was that this issue would have to be addressed at two fronts – the revocation of the GPA and the rectification of the illegal transfer of property done as a result of that. Given Gurmeet’s inability to travel much, the team took the effort to go to his place of residence and arrange for his video conferencing with the Indian head office. Once he had explained the basic facts to the lawyers, he could let his niece take over with the coordination to be done with the legal experts. Over a period of time of course, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that he really didn’t have to worry about the follow up. He was given regular updates on his case through emails, messages, Skype messages and talks, and phone calls from the local office. The lawyers made sure they traced the GPA as well as the false police complaints that Gurjinder had made against Manmeet’s family. These are some of the reasons that our legal team always advises people to be very careful while going in for a GPA. In matters of property, this can be more harmful than beneficial in most cases. 

Gurmeet’s case was meticulously pursued – all without him having to either come to India or be bothered about the paperwork etc. Both Gurmeet and his niece were kept well informed about the proceedings in the matter and eventually he was able to get his property restored and take care of his daughter-in-law’s interests.