I have a friend who is in the most terrible situation. He is elderly and has both a physical and mental disability. He has been ruined financially once before, losing a business and his home, forced to live in public housing and now he's the victim of the most vindictive act.
After losing his earth moving business and home he rented a shed on a rural property west of Sydney. He moved various old classic Ford cars and Bedford trucks he'd collected to the property. He'd also collected obsolete parts for these over 40 years and had a number of semi-trailer vans full of parts. I bought some parts from him on ebay and this is how I got to know him. He was getting back on his feet tinkering on various projects, buying and selling on ebay.
Over time the relationship with his landlord person J deteriorated, I think over storing all the old cars and trucks on the property. In mid 2016 there was an arson attack. One semi-trailer and at least half a dozen cars and trucks were destroyed. The matter was investigated by the police but no one was charged.
After the arson attack he decided the best thing to do was to relocate. He decided to see if he could borrow a small amount of money, buy a block of land and build a shed. He could borrow about $150k, then sell items to fund building a small shed. In September 2016 he settled on a block of land.
The relationship with the landlord obviously got worse over time. The landlord wanted him off the property despite the lease. For probably more than a year now he's been locked out of the property.
Fast forward to about six weeks ago. My friend goes to do his usual monthly drive past check of his property to find that just about everything is gone. All that's left is a bus that was too big to cart away and not much else. 30 cars, trucks, semi-trailer vans, furniture, bob-cat, rare silverware, tools, personal effects all gone. In dollar value well in excess of $x000,000.
Within a week after making various phone calls he tracks down person C who is involved in some way. Person C owns a wrecking business and lots of property in the district. In fact, my friend knows person C having purchased car parts from him. My friend takes a friend D and the police to C's property. D also had a car and other items go missing. At C's property they find some of the missing cars and trucks. Property stored in the trucks is gone. C claims he purchased what he has legitimately. He tells one story that J had just purchased the rural property and wanted to get rid of the abandoned property left behind by the tenant (my friend). He tells another story that he saw legal papers that J had. These he said indicated that J had been given ownership of the property following a ruling by a court/tribunal. Eventually C orders everyone off the property saying they are trespassing.
There is also another person G and someone else U that is involved in removing all the property. My friend telephoned C to try and see if they could resolve the matter. This is when C told him that person G was also involved. My friend worked out who G was by asking around what company's tow trucks were involved. My friend telephoned G. G told him to get stuffed. In all his dealings my friend has been polite and non-threatening because doing otherwise would get him no where. The matter is being investigated by the police and that's how my friend found out about person U. The police are indicating that person U bought the property legitimately. It's unclear exactly how the property has been divided between C, G and U. The semi-trailers full of parts are missing. C has given a statement to the police as has U I think. J is not returning the police's phone calls and G refuses to go to the police station to give a statement. The police won't search any properties where the missing property might be, claiming privacy and possibly be sued if found to be wrong as concerns. In all of the above who bought what from whom is not exactly known by my friend or me.
It seems that the police's focus is the criminal aspect of the incident which is fair enough. The won't give my friend specific information because they believe he will interfere. My friend doesn't care about laying charges, he just wants his property returned. Last week my friend finally went to NCAT over the dispute with the landlord. My friend is also seeing legal aid this week I think about the theft (?) of the property.
Can anyone offer any suggestions, guidance or help?
After losing his earth moving business and home he rented a shed on a rural property west of Sydney. He moved various old classic Ford cars and Bedford trucks he'd collected to the property. He'd also collected obsolete parts for these over 40 years and had a number of semi-trailer vans full of parts. I bought some parts from him on ebay and this is how I got to know him. He was getting back on his feet tinkering on various projects, buying and selling on ebay.
Over time the relationship with his landlord person J deteriorated, I think over storing all the old cars and trucks on the property. In mid 2016 there was an arson attack. One semi-trailer and at least half a dozen cars and trucks were destroyed. The matter was investigated by the police but no one was charged.
After the arson attack he decided the best thing to do was to relocate. He decided to see if he could borrow a small amount of money, buy a block of land and build a shed. He could borrow about $150k, then sell items to fund building a small shed. In September 2016 he settled on a block of land.
The relationship with the landlord obviously got worse over time. The landlord wanted him off the property despite the lease. For probably more than a year now he's been locked out of the property.
Fast forward to about six weeks ago. My friend goes to do his usual monthly drive past check of his property to find that just about everything is gone. All that's left is a bus that was too big to cart away and not much else. 30 cars, trucks, semi-trailer vans, furniture, bob-cat, rare silverware, tools, personal effects all gone. In dollar value well in excess of $x000,000.
Within a week after making various phone calls he tracks down person C who is involved in some way. Person C owns a wrecking business and lots of property in the district. In fact, my friend knows person C having purchased car parts from him. My friend takes a friend D and the police to C's property. D also had a car and other items go missing. At C's property they find some of the missing cars and trucks. Property stored in the trucks is gone. C claims he purchased what he has legitimately. He tells one story that J had just purchased the rural property and wanted to get rid of the abandoned property left behind by the tenant (my friend). He tells another story that he saw legal papers that J had. These he said indicated that J had been given ownership of the property following a ruling by a court/tribunal. Eventually C orders everyone off the property saying they are trespassing.
There is also another person G and someone else U that is involved in removing all the property. My friend telephoned C to try and see if they could resolve the matter. This is when C told him that person G was also involved. My friend worked out who G was by asking around what company's tow trucks were involved. My friend telephoned G. G told him to get stuffed. In all his dealings my friend has been polite and non-threatening because doing otherwise would get him no where. The matter is being investigated by the police and that's how my friend found out about person U. The police are indicating that person U bought the property legitimately. It's unclear exactly how the property has been divided between C, G and U. The semi-trailers full of parts are missing. C has given a statement to the police as has U I think. J is not returning the police's phone calls and G refuses to go to the police station to give a statement. The police won't search any properties where the missing property might be, claiming privacy and possibly be sued if found to be wrong as concerns. In all of the above who bought what from whom is not exactly known by my friend or me.
It seems that the police's focus is the criminal aspect of the incident which is fair enough. The won't give my friend specific information because they believe he will interfere. My friend doesn't care about laying charges, he just wants his property returned. Last week my friend finally went to NCAT over the dispute with the landlord. My friend is also seeing legal aid this week I think about the theft (?) of the property.
Can anyone offer any suggestions, guidance or help?
