Dubai: The police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials are set to bring in Interpol in a bid to track down a man at the centre of a Dh5.8 million real estate scam that hit almost 100 people in the city.
A report from Dubai Police released Sunday indicated that 78 victims from various nationalities have fallen victim to the scam so far, with most of those affected coming from Europe.
Shamyana Entertainment Services’ owner, previously identified as H.M.K by Gulf News and identified as H.M.S in the recent police statement, is accused of illegally subletting apartments, mainly in the Greens, as well as other areas of Dubai.
Victims’ reports indicate that he also rented single properties to multiple unsuspecting parties.
Police confirmed that H.M.S. fled the country on August 30 to Lebanon and that they are in the process of issuing an Interpol notice.
The case has been transferred to the public prosecution.
CID have been working on recording all the victims’ statements, which revealed that the company’s license was for organising parties and entertainment events, and that H.M.S. has been active for almost a year.
The police statement stated that H.M.S, a Saudi national, rented apartments by placing advertisements on the internet through Dubizzle.
He would then show potential clients the non-inhabited apartments, which are in fact owned by someone else.
H.M.S is accused of making victims believe he was authorised by owners to rent the apartments on their behalf, the police report indicated. H.M.S would then allegedly sublet these apartments to the victims with an illegal contract.
The report indicates that many of the tenants remained in the apartments they rented from H.M.S, while some were evicted by the original owners.
The victims’ reports showed there were 70 apartments rented by H.M.S. in the Greens, two in Jumeirah Beach Residence, two in TECOM, one in Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jebel Ali Gardens. A villa in Down Town Burj Khalifa was also involved.
Shamyana scam victims have held several public meetings in a bid to take action after many were left homeless and out of pocket, often to the tune of thousands of Dirhams.
They also set up a Facebook page where more potential victims could come forward.
