Dubai: An Indian expat has urged would-be tenants to stay alert when signing leases as he was asked to vacate his Dubai residence after falling victim to an alleged property scam in International City.
Jesu Raj, 32, said he was shocked to learn the apartment he has been living in for the last six months has been rented to someone else.
And Raj believes he is not the only victim of this scam — believing up to 25 others could have been affected.
He said: “I was told there were 20-25 complaints against the Pakistani real estate executive, so there could be other victims,” Raj said.
“You’ve got to be extra careful, don’t trust anyone.”
Raj paid Dh25,000 in April as annual rent for a one-bedroom flat in the Italy cluster in International City.
The 32-year-old safety manager claims he gave one cheque for the full amount to a Pakistani man who introduced himself as the landlord’s agent.
The deal was arranged by a Pakistani real estate executive in International City who took a Dh2,000 commission, Raj added.
Raj, a bachelor from Chennai, said he was shown apparently genuine documents, like a state-issued tenancy contract and landlord’s title deed, Power of Attorney and passport copy.
He added that he had “no problems” subscribing to Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s services and has been living in the flat since April.
But, according to Raj, a man visited him last week claiming he was the landlord’s true representative who had rented the apartment to someone else — to the ‘agent’ Ray had met in April.
Both Raj and the representative believe they have been duped by the same man.
The ‘agent’ cashed Raj’s single rent cheque and gave four rent instalment cheques totalling Dh28,000 to the representative — who showed up at Raj’s front door recently after the third cheque bounced.
Mobile numbers said to belong to the Pakistani man were switched off or were no longer in service. His whereabouts are unknown.
The alleged scam closely resembles tactics used by rogue agents of two property companies that reportedly swindled millions of dirhams from thousands of Dubai tenants earlier this year.
Raj said: “My mistake was not cross-checking the commission receipts and Power of Attorney.”
The landlord is a UK national living at home, according to documents given to Raj in April.
“I’m hoping to reach an agreement with the landlord’s representative as I’ve already paid my rent for the full year. If the matter goes to court, and the court says ‘you go,’ I’ll leave peacefully.”
Raj added: “This would have been a bigger disaster if it was a family involved, with kids going to school. It costs money to vacate and find another place, what do you do in between?
“It’s expensive and exhausting to go to court. Not many salaried people have got the money and time for it. You can’t take things for granted — do your checks. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone.”
