Business | Property
Aspire draws ire of property investors
Investors are increasingly concerned about their investments in all developments of Aspire Real Estate, including Elements and Jehaan in Jumeirah Village South.
- By Suzanne Fenton, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:42 November 12, 2008
Dubai: Investors are increasingly concerned about their investments in all developments of Aspire Real Estate, including Elements and Jehaan in Jumeirah Village South.
Investors are worried that their money has been used for personal use by the manager of Aspire, as they have been left with no money and no apartments.
The manager was recently sentenced to three years in jail for bounced cheques according to records from Dubai courts.
However, the case has now been taken to the appeal court and the next hearing is due on November 18.
The manager denied he had a case against him when speaking to Gulf News on Tuesday.
"There is one court case, but it is something we filed against High Rise Real Estate as they didn't pay us what was due (Dh200 million)," the manager said.
Furious investors bought their apartments in Aspire's Jehaan development in Jumeirah Village South since 2007.
Most of the investors have paid at least a 10 per cent deposit (Dh80,000), with one paying around 33 per cent, despite not having a contract. Investors were told Jehaan would be ready by January 2009 but construction hasn't even started.
It also transpires that when Aspire was selling the units, they did not legally own the land.
The manager said originally the land was owned by offshore company Noorzak Investments, but one of the directors of Noorzak "went into his set of problems".
Transfer process
"When we went to transfer the land, we realised that Noorzak had some problems with Nakheel with two other plots which they owned in JVS and hence Nakheel refused to make any transfer until the issue was sorted out," the manager said in a statement online.
By the time this happened, an extra 25 per cent payment on the land was due and the transfer process was further delayed, the manager added. At this time, Rera and therefore the escrow account law were not yet in place in Dubai.
When investors contacted Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) in April this year, senior legal officer Khowla Madani replied that Rera would look into the matter.
"I was informed that the plot has never been transferred to their name and as I can see from their email, there is too much misleading information."
"If the same were confirmed, strict legal action shall be taken against Aspire Real Estate and this email shall be forwarded to management of Rera to decide the proper action," Madani writes.
The manager told Gulf News the project "is definitely going ahead" and when asked if investors would get refunds if requested, he replied, "Yes, 100 per cent."
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