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Fraudster in garb of real estate agent

On December 20, an advertisement in a local daily, for a two-bedroom apartment for Dh26,000 in Deira’s Al Shaab Colony prompted house-hunter Sameer Qadir to inquire about the details. According to Qadir, the property belonged to Majid Al Mukthar, but was being leased out by an Indian national, Babu, who “always remained behind the scenes.”

“The apartment that I was shown had two bedrooms, a spacious hall and two full bathrooms. It was in an old building but, nevertheless, affordable for me,” said Qadir — one of the several victims of the fraud. “I liked the apartment and was ready to pay in advance to book it,” he said.

“I was asked to pay a cash advance of Dh8,000 and the rest in cheques at an office in Naif Road. It was a properly set-up office with equipment and staff willing to cooperate, and I had no reason to doubt their authenticity,” he explained. “When I told them that I could not pay cash at once, they told me that there were many other people willing to take up the apartment,” he added.

Qadir said that in total he paid Dh13,500 cash sub-divided as Dh3,000 commission, Dh2,500 advance, Dh1,000 Dewa deposit, another Dh7,000 and two cheques of Dh8,000.

“I got receipts issued for all the dealings that were done. To top it all, I was also given draft of a tenancy contract in my name and was told that I could shift into the apartment by January 1, 2005,” he said.

Further explaining, Qadir said that December 28 was the last time he spoke to Babu. “I tried calling him on his mobile on December 28, but all day, the mobile was switched off. I waited till the next day and then decided to visit his office so as to collect the keys of the apartment. This was the place that I got my first shock,” he explained.

He said that he saw six other people waiting for the same apartment outside the locked office. “There was no response from anybody in the office as it was locked,” he said. “We all panicked and upon comparing notes with each other, we learnt that we all had been cheated by the same gang, for the same apartment and the same amount of money,” he said.

Another victim, Krishna Kumar, said that they all then registered a case with the Al Naif Police Station and the Al Murraqqabat Police Station.

“But we are sorry to say that for the police, it seemed to be a usual case of fraud,” he said. “Later, we learnt from the neighbours that Babu, himself had rented that apartment and was using it for prostitution, upon which the landlord had asked him to vacate it. He then masterminded this plan and duped several people,” he added.

“We have also learnt that Babu’s visa has already been cancelled and we fear that he might have already left the country,” they said. “We also fear that there might be several other people who might have responded to this advertisement and have got duped by the same gang,” they voiced concern.

They said that Dubai was fast becoming a business hub, but how would trust develop if such kind of cheatings continue. “We want to warn others to beware of such a gang and further frauds,” they said.

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