Executive Chairman of JL Holdings, Dr. James Condua Orleans-Lindsay, has shared how he lost $1.3 million in a land scam that nearly crippled his business.

Speaking on The Career Trail program on Joy News and Joy Learning TV, Dr. Orleans-Lindsay revealed that the incident happened at a time when his real estate firm was beginning to gain momentum.

The loss, he said, was so devastating that it almost pushed him out of business completely.

“I lost $1.3 million through a scam. I pride myself to be among the topmost people when it comes to knowledge of land history in Accra. So for me to be deceived by somebody, it was painful. It was all tears because it was a client’s money I had handed over to the buyer” he recalled.

He explained that the deal involved a piece of land with documents that appeared legitimate in every way, only for him to later discover that the papers had been expertly cloned.

“The idea was that it was X amount the client was paying me, and I was making Y. I was making such a margin that it looked too good, but the guy had done it so well. He cloned the title, everything,” he explained.

“When someone clones a land title or document, you take the site plan to Lands Commission to do a search. When they do the search, the names will all come, but the document he’s holding is cloned. So all the details match, and you wouldn’t doubt it. He even had a passport and driver’s license to go with it,” he continued.

According to him, the emotional and financial toll of the scam was immense, but he chose to focus his energy on rebuilding rather than pursuing the scammer.

“Though it was a difficult moment for me, I soldiered on. It was not the end of the world. I mean, I looked for him all over the country. Anytime I got to a place, they would say, ‘Oh, he just left here.’ So at a point, I stopped searching and comforted myself,” he noted.

Dr. Orleans-Lindsay said the ordeal taught him a business lesson that has stayed with him ever since.

“One of the lessons people should know is this don’t throw good money after bad money. The energy I put into looking for him, if I had diverted it somewhere else, could have generated more money for me. But those are lessons you learn,” he advised.

“It was a tough moment, but I didn’t stop. I started again, this time wiser and more careful,” he concluded.