Louisiana notary and client arrested in fraudulent land deal
By: Nancy Cook
Updated: September 25, 2012
Two people were arrested today in connection with a fraudulent land transfer involving property belonging to a woman who has been dead for 17 years.
Eugene Boyd, 36, was booked into the Caddo Correctional Center for forgery after he signed the deceased woman's name to an act of donation giving him ownership of 20 acres of land in Belcher. The paperwork was filed with the Caddo Parish Clerk of Court and was used to fraudulently gain possession of the land valued at $30,000.
Boyd was also arrested for theft for taking $750 to lease the land for farming when he did not legally own the property.
The donation paperwork was created without the presence of the legal owner by Cecilia Conant, a Louisiana Civil Law Notary Public commissioned in 1992, who forged two witness signatures on the document, then authenticated the paperwork by notarizing it.
She received $100 from Boyd for preparing the papers and notarizing them. Conant, who was employed by the Caddo Sheriff's Office, was arrested by Sheriff's Detective Bobby Herring and booked into CCC for forgery.
Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator said Conant was not acting as an employee of the Sheriff's Office when she created the document or notarized it but was immediately fired from duty.
