A few years back I was involved in a scam land deal just next door to the Ma Noa water park in Maracajau, a small town 40 minutes north of Natal. The owner (we're still not sure who is), her name is 'Olga'. Come to find out later on she scammed others; italians, espanolos, etc. Our general contractor was also in on it; his name is Newton Takahara. Olga is nowhere to be found and Takahara is working in south Brazil. Later we hired an attorney in Rio to help us get our money back, but that was another waste of $.

The land is a big plot, oceanfront, sitting next to Agua Parque Ma Noa, about 7 acres.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is the land...

wwwdotgemestatesdotcodotuk/propertydotasp?ID=64

and

wwwdotmanoabeachresortdotcom

Good luck and don't get scammed in Brazil.

Were you unable to find the landowner through the Prefeitura in Natal as they would have the rightful owner documented . Is she Brasilian and what is her surname?

Dotty -

We are at fault because we (my investment group) did not go about buying this property in the right way and we were naive in thinking we could trust people in Brazil like in the US. This investment was taking place in 2001. Now, we are 7 years later, so we are past this.... I'm simply posting now because I have some time and I recently found out about this Forum. The main problem is we entrusted a Brazilian man from Londrino (south of Brazil) that I met in Recife a few years before working as a receptionist at Atlanta Plaza Hotel in Boa Viagem. Mr. Takahara appeared like a trustworthy Brazilian man. The land owner name is Olga, an old lady but she’s now on the run.... I was not part of the internal paperwork process nor did I meet Olga so I don't know her full name or who she is. I was an outside investor, but did visit the property once in 2003.

I don't have time to get into details except to say that in Brazil, and most countries in central and south America -- you must be very careful whom you are dealing with and when buying anything, especially real estate -- Brazilians might be the slickest people in the world when it comes to scams and how to take from you. I love Brazil and the people but now I'm just a lot more skeptical. I learned the hard way, by getting screwed.

Bottom line: This plot of land next to Ma Noa water park in Maracajau has a lot of problems.

Your story is not an unusual one Ray.....not unusual at all.

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www.mjrdevelopments.com/ www.rosegardenbrazil.com

In Brazil the natives used to claim the land for themselves and this gave them right to own the land(often without deeds),so they would sell the land for cash.Did she sell the land with deeds or without?Important info also.When dealing with prefeituras Municipais in this case was it (Ceara Mirim or Extremoz)?

In Nisa Floresta we have a huge scam ongoing(not personally) where the owner,mayor of the notorio in Nisa Floresta (South Coast Natal)was signing papers agreeing to people being able to build irregulary and allowed a few overseas companies(using illegal monies to buy and build)A lot of land was bought and building work began to be halted after police investigations.The investigation is ongoing .So many people invested their money in Natal to be told they have no rights to what they thought they bought. So all along you will see building totally empty,half finished ,roofs off and abandoned lands.Mean while he is still able to run his office.In this case the developers were overseas and the beaurocratic part a Brazilian working crook!

In brasil the natives used to claim the land for themselves and this gave them the right to own the land (often withoiut deeds),so they would sell on the land for pennies or 1000,ss.Did they sell the land with deed or without?
In Extremos and Ceara Mirim they are less experienced.
In Nisia Floresta we have a huge scam going on involving the owner of the notary he is the Mayor aswell!He had been signing papers agreeing to foreign investors buying up land and building irregulary who were money laundering!There is a hugh police investigation ongoing.
So now all along the coast you will see plenty of abandoned projects,half finished projects and abandoned lands.Mean while Mr Crook is still in his office(not sure for how long though)and many overseas investors have lost their money and dreams.

[quote=Dotty;42497]QUOTE]

Aren't you talking about the Norwegian gangsters who were involved in a few developments in Buzios and Tabatinga and they were using them to launder big amounts of money?

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Property for Sale in Brazil | Property Pipa | Brazil Property | Guide to Pipa Brazil

Yes and the Spanish Group(not G.S) amongst others.

Well the more I get to know Brazil and the more I learn about it it is a country of scallywags and vagabonds....difficult to generalise I know but I have been a bout a bit and thought I was pretty street wise, but I have learned more visiting Brazil in the last 15 months than all my years of travelling and overseas business. Now nothing ceases to surpise me when i am there, only recently I was ripped off for $R20 of petrol which wasn't properly filled in my car! I just start to wonder about a country where you just cannot relax because every time you drop your guard someone scams you or robs you. I guess I am in for te long haul now but I can't see it getting any better whilst a lot of the culture seems to be"gimme gimme gimme" everytime they see a Gringo.

Golfing,

While Gringos are fair game, better off Brazilians are frequently victims too. It is very common to have to fire a maid due to theft. Perhaps this is on account of the low minimum salaries for these types of jobs. The problem is, if the minimum salaries are raised too much, a lot of these jobs would disappear.

Dotty, why do you need to buy Twinings? The local "cha preto" is cheap and tastes fine.