UAE | Housing & Property

Dubai residents warned about fraudulent real estate agents

A senior prosecutor has warned residents not to fall for what he described as false promises and illusions to own low-priced property sold to them by fraudulent agents.

  • By Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter
  • Published: 00:17 April 16, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: A senior prosecutor has warned residents not to fall for what he described as false promises and illusions to own low-priced property sold to them by fraudulent agents.

There have been cases of swindlers who claim they run or work for real estate agencies to promote cut-rate or inexistent properties ... this act is punishable by law and they could face up to three years in jail plus Dh30,000 fine, cautioned Ahmad Al Hammadi, Assistant Chief Prosecutor of Bur Dubai's First Public Prosecution.

"The public should be aware of falling prey to the hands of such real estate fraudsters. We have encountered a number of such cases and very recently we referred two suspects to court who conned two victims of more than Dh1.5 million," Al Hammadi warned followed the referral of two cases to the Dubai Court of Misdemeanors.

In the first case, the Public Prosecution charged an Arab man, identified as A.F., with swindling and conning an Arab woman, B.Q., of Dh1.3 million.

Interrogation

B.Q. said the suspect agreed to sell her two flats and she paid him Dh400,000 in cash and issued a cheque for the balance in favour of a real estate agency which informed her that the contract is not authentic.

In the second case, an Arab woman, R.A., was charged with swindling Dh225,000 from an Asian woman, L.D. Initial interrogations revealed that R.A. claimed that she worked for a real estate agent and used a business identification card then she presented a blueprint of two flats that the victim agreed to buy. R.A. also took L.D. to a location where she claimed that the building will be constructed.

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