Dh2 million sub-letting fraudster to be deported

Published Monday, August 27, 2012

By Eman Al Baik

An unsuspecting tenant who rented out a flat in Dubai after footing commissions and paying the rent was shocked to receive an evacuation order within two months.

The real owner of the apartment alleged in court that the accused had defrauded up to Dh2 million by sub-letting apartment that he had leased out.

The incident came to light when the real estate swindler, who posed as the owner of the property using forged documents and a fake name had advertisied about the vacant flat on the Net.

And an elderly Jordanian teacher, who was looking for an apartment for his son, quickly fell prey to his antics.

Following the lead from the advertisement, the 65-year-old man met one 'Nair' who showed him the flat. He agreed to Nair's renting terms of Dh39,000 annual rent apart from Dh2,000 commission in the name of Sultan Properties and Dh1,000 Dewa deposit.

Before finalising the deal when the Jordanian asked for his identity, he showed a copy of the ownership certificate of the apartment where his name was mentioned as ANZ.

Upon enquiring why he called himself Nair, he replied it was his nickname. He in fact also showed his residency visa that had his name as ANZ.

The Jordanian's son moved into the apartment only to face issues. A month after he shifed, a person named 'Iqbal', who claimed that to be a representative of the owner, demanded an he pay electricity bill of Dh400–Dh500.

After about 45 days, yet another person named Mohammed Yousef turned up at the apartment introducing himself as the real owner.

He showed the real docuemnts and proved that he had filed a complaint at the rents committee. He wanted the tenant to vacate the flat immediately. He also proceeded to file a police complaint.

The tenant testified in the Dubai Courts that Mohammed Yousef said that the "accused had swindled up to Dh2m by defrauding tenants.” The Criminal evidences section reported that the photocopy of the ownership certificate was forged by changing the name of the owner.

Investigation revealed that ANZ, a Pakistani, had leased the flat from Yousef and then sub-let it by forging ownership certificates.

Yousef came into picture when ANZ failed to pay him the rent.

ANZ, 38, appealed the verdict issued by the Dubai Court of First Instance. The Appeals Court reduced his sentence to six months but upheld the deportation order.

ASZ had leased the flat from its real owner and then sub-let it by forging the ownership certificate. He failed to pay the real owner the rent of the flat and sub-let the flat.

[Homepage Image Courtesy: Shutterstock]

ALSO READ:

Makkah to receive 4 million pilgrims after expansion

Less-educated Keralites can go back to ‘school’ in UAE