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14 years ago my uncle died leaving a property and separate 4 acre plot of land that was administered by my Uncle (my deceased uncles Brother). He handled the sale of the property and the land which was then split between himself and myself according to the will. I was a young teenager at the time so had no involvement in this process.
I recently found out that the estate agent received an offer of £60k for the 4 acres (the going rate) that he didn't pass on to my Uncle from the people that bought the house. The estate agent told my Uncle that there was no interest in the land except a big of £1000 from a local. Which my Uncle (who isn't local) accepted just to liquidate the estate. Within a year of this the estate agent went bust (he has a reputation locally now of being rather shady).
I have since found out from a local lady that the land was sold for £1000 to a local drug addict who has never used the land. I think he was used as a straw buyer for someone else. Possibly the estate agent himself. The land is current sat derelict and apart from once having a few chickens on hasn't been used in 14 years. It isn't registered with the land registry so I can't tell who the ultimate owner is.
I see 2 possibilities,
1) The estate agent ripped my uncle and I off after seeing an opportunity to take advantage of a grieving man looking for a quick sale.
2) My uncle (who I haven't seen in years) was involved in the fraud and received a payment outside the estate directly into his pocket to avoid having to split it. Although I'd think even my uncle would be smart enough to make it a slightly more believable sale amount.
I did speak to a friend of a friend that suggested there was no time limit on pursuing this matter as a legal issue but I'm not sure where to start. My uncle has all the paperwork, the estate agent went bust, reopened again but closed in 2019 and I have no idea where the local straw buyer is now.
I recently found out that the estate agent received an offer of £60k for the 4 acres (the going rate) that he didn't pass on to my Uncle from the people that bought the house. The estate agent told my Uncle that there was no interest in the land except a big of £1000 from a local. Which my Uncle (who isn't local) accepted just to liquidate the estate. Within a year of this the estate agent went bust (he has a reputation locally now of being rather shady).
I have since found out from a local lady that the land was sold for £1000 to a local drug addict who has never used the land. I think he was used as a straw buyer for someone else. Possibly the estate agent himself. The land is current sat derelict and apart from once having a few chickens on hasn't been used in 14 years. It isn't registered with the land registry so I can't tell who the ultimate owner is.
I see 2 possibilities,
1) The estate agent ripped my uncle and I off after seeing an opportunity to take advantage of a grieving man looking for a quick sale.
2) My uncle (who I haven't seen in years) was involved in the fraud and received a payment outside the estate directly into his pocket to avoid having to split it. Although I'd think even my uncle would be smart enough to make it a slightly more believable sale amount.
I did speak to a friend of a friend that suggested there was no time limit on pursuing this matter as a legal issue but I'm not sure where to start. My uncle has all the paperwork, the estate agent went bust, reopened again but closed in 2019 and I have no idea where the local straw buyer is now.
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