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Christopher Oji
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested five suspected real estate scammers in the state .
The suspects were arrested for allegedly trying to lease someone else’s duplex in Lekki Phase 2 to a house seeker.
According to the police, the suspects wanted to lease the house for N4.5 million before they were arrested last Wednesday by the operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) while they were about exchanging money and keys.
The gang, which consisted of; Oladimeji, 43, Ayo, 45, Fabiyi, 65, Hakeem, 49 and Ayodele, 52, were arrested in Lekki Phase 2, after almost sealing the deal for the leasing of the duplex to Mr. Obi .
The suspects who are living in border towns of Lagos and Ogun States, had pretended to be the agents in charge of the duplex.
To expand their dragnet, the suspects had advertised the property on jiji.com with a total lease package for a year at N4.5 million.
According to the leader of the gang, Hakeem, he had been using his knowledge of computer to post for sale and lease on various websites non-existing landed property, apartments and buildings. He added that the gang used to lure unsuspecting publics with attractive prices.
In his confessional statement to the police, Hakeem disclosed that in early September, he posted a vacancy of a four-bedroom duplex in Lekki Phase 2 which attracted so many people amongst whom was Mr. Obi.
“Immediately he called me through the contact on the advertisement, I knew he was ready to do business with us.
“I mobilised my members and allocated roles to each of them to make the deal seamless.
“Oladimeji acted as the estate lawyer. He discussed at length with our victim on the legal angle as well as visitation before payment.
“Ayo was in charge of taking victims on house or land inspection. Fabiyi, the eldest among us played the role of a principal agent and sometimes acted as site Engineer while Ayodele acted as the personal assistance to Fabiyi to make him look like a wealthy man who was well groomed and seasoned in the business.
“After the inspection, Mr Obi requested to pay us with a cheque. Initially, we rejected as our mode of payment was through bank transfer.”
