St Andrew developer cleared of fraud charges in US$400,000 property case

St Andrew real estate developer Devon Evans has been found not guilty of fraudulent conversion and obtaining money by false pretences in a property transaction involving medical doctor Lloyd Goldson.

Evans was freed by Chief Parish Judge Chester Crooks yesterday following a trial in the Corporate Area Criminal Court.

The charges arose from the sale of a townhouse to Dr Goldson in 2008. The property cost more than US$400,000.

It was alleged that after making a deposit on the house and taking possession, Evans failed to deliver the registered title.

Evans was also accused of failing to hand over proceeds from rental income earned from another townhouse in which Goldson had an interest.

The matter was reported to the police Fraud Squad, and Evans was subsequently charged.

However, during the trial, a number of inconsistencies emerged in Goldson’s account while he was under cross-examination by Evans’s attorney, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie.

It was put to Goldson that, prior to making the deposit, he was aware that the townhouse was subject to a lien by National Commercial Bank, a situation that would not have allowed Evans to immediately deliver a registered title. Goldson gave conflicting answers.

It was also brought to light that the rental income from the other property in which Goldson had an interest had been paid over to him by Evans.

In acquitting Evans of both charges, Judge Crooks ruled that Dr Goldson’s evidence under cross-examination had fallen apart, leaving the prosecution’s case in a state of uncertainty.

Throughout the trial, Champagnie maintained that any complaint against his client belonged in the civil court and not the criminal court.

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