Conway V Eze: A Residential Conveyancing Nightmare

Mr and Mrs Conway lived in a prestigious house in London, but in 2010 they decided to sell it with the intention of relocating to Cambridge. When their house first went on the market the asking price was £7m, but that reduced over time as they struggled to find a buyer. In 2015 they reduced the price to £5.5 and privately felt that the lowest offer they might accept would be for £5m.

In April 2015 the property was viewed by a gentleman called Mr Obahor. Mr Obahor told the Conways that he was acting on behalf of a Nigerian purchaser, whose identity he had to keep confidential. After the viewing there were some negotiations as a result of which the Conways and Mr Obahor agreed a sale price of £5m. On the strength of that the Conways reached a separate agreement, subject to contract, to buy a new home in Cambridge for £2.9m.

At first sight there is nothing too remarkable in the events described above. However, Mr Obahor was not being totally honest with the Conways: although Mr Obahor hoped to line up a purchaser for the property from Nigeria, he had no purchaser at the time of the viewing and was not then representing anyone in Nigeria. In fact, Mr Obahor was described as a "chancer" in Court and the Judge accepted that description of him. Mr Obahor's involvement in the sale was the start of the nightmare for the Conways.

To pick up the story once more, Mr Obahor then visited the property a second time and again perpetuated the charade of having a buyer whom he was representing, when there was none. It was suggested in evidence at Court that at that meeting (or possibly the first one, the picture was unclear) Mr Obahor sought a payment from the Conways for bringing about a sale - a "finder's fee" - of £75,000. It appeared that the Conways were prepared, in principle, to pay such a fee to Mr Obahor although noting was then agreed. Soon thereafter Mr Obahor found a potential buyer from Nigeria in the form of Prince Eze - the Prince wanted to proceed with the purchase quickly and was also willing to pay a fee to Mr Obahor of about £150,000 as he understood Mr Obahor was acting as his trusted agent. The trouble was that at this time the Price did not know that Mr Obahor was also lining up a fee from the Conways and when he found out he would not be happy - Mr Obahor's involvement in the sale was also the start of the nightmare for the Prince.

Things proceeded further and without being any wiser about what Mr Obahor was up to, the Price and the...