A Top Real Estate Lawyer Used Forged Documents to “Sell” Properties That Weren’t Hers to Sell

• Jennifer Messado faced nearly a dozen fraud charges across four cases
• Investigators allege she used forged documents to sell properties
• Entertainer Mavado is among those claiming to have been defrauded
• She was struck off the roll after 44 years as an attorney

Well-known real estate attorney Jennifer Messado, 68 and in practice since 1974, was struck off the roll of attorneys authorised to practise in Jamaica, facing nearly a dozen fraud-related charges across four separate cases in which investigators alleged she used forged documents to sell a number of properties valued at millions of dollars, properties she did not actually have the legal right to sell. Top entertainer David Mavado Brooks is among those who came forward claiming to have been defrauded by her.

Messado had herself applied to the Supreme Court to be struck off, framing the request around her own health rather than an admission tied directly to the fraud allegations. I am faced with a number of allegations with respect to my practice which are currently before the courts. I am contesting these allegations and the trials are likely in the future, she said in a supporting affidavit. However, at this time I am under considerable stress and I am advised by my doctor that I should cease my practice.

The disbarment that ultimately followed came through the General Legal Council’s own disciplinary action rather than Messado’s application succeeding first: the action stemmed from a complaint by another attorney alleging Messado had breached an agreement and failed to pay over sums owed, a separate procedural trigger that pre-empted her voluntary removal request, meaning her own application was not expected to proceed once the council had already acted.

A 44-year legal career, a client roster including a well-known entertainer, and forged property documents used to sell homes the attorney had no right to convey represent, in combination, one of the more serious real estate fraud cases this publication has documented, distinct in scale and duration from the individual developer fraud cases and attorney misconduct patterns covered elsewhere.

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