Alabi Idowu, a real estate developer in Lagos has been arrested by police operatives in the state for allegedly defrauding over 200 people seeking accommodation in a newly constructed building at №1 Karimu Street, off Oyebanjo Street, Alapere, Ketu, Lagos.
According to Punch, the developer also presented himself as the landlord of the building to defraud the prospective tenants to the tune of N50m.
Alabi while negotiating with the prospective tenants was said to have told them that finishing touches had to be done on the building before they could move in.
After payments, Idowu reportedly told his victims to meet him at the house on Monday, June 24, 2019, to receive keys to their flats, Punch reports.
However, he was said to have released keys to some of the intending tenants before the agreed date.
One of the intending tenants, one Shonibare said over 200 people were left stranded n front of the house on Monday, adding that some of them claimed to have paid for their rent, when the house was at the foundation level.
He said, Shonibare said, “I met him (developer) through my relation, Tobi, who had also paid for a flat in the house. After inspecting the house, the man, who claimed to be the owner of the house, introduced himself as Alabi Idowu. We immediately paid N180,000 into a Guaranty Trust Bank account in the name of Alabi Teslim Idowu, and N150,000 into an Access Bank account with the name, Tunde Adewale, his partner, and he gave us a receipt.
“He told us that he needed to fix the water closets in the flats and asked us to come to the house on Monday, June 24, to receive the keys to our flats.
“But on Saturday, Tobi informed my mum that something was going on with the house and when we got there, we met over 200 people sharing their experience of how they had been defrauded.”
And due to the large number of the victims and the amount of money involved, the prospective tenants were said to have marched to the state secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, to protest.
One of the victim, who went to Alausa said the the state Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat commiserated with them and also urged them to write a petition.
The victim who didnt want to be identified said, “I got to the building around 7am and saw a lot of people fighting over the house. I saw about 20 people claiming to have paid for the same flat that I paid for. Over 200 people were tricked into paying for flats in the building and this made us to stage a protest to the state secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja.
“As I speak to you, I am at the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, where the developer is being detained after he was arrested when one of us called him and pretended that he wanted to pay the balance of his rent.
“He (the developer) knew that the man was not in Lagos when the fraud was discovered, so he gave him a location and the man mobilised policemen to arrest him. When we did the calculation of all those he had duped, the amount was over N50m.”
One Sharafa Adeleke, who is said to be the representative of the owners of the house said the developer contracted to build and manage the property for 15 years.
He said, “Our agreement was that he would give the family N300,000 and three flats after developing the house. But we were surprised that he kept telling us that he needed to fix some things in the house when it was clear that he had finished developing it.
“I insisted that he should give us the flats we agreed on and he told me to come on Saturday. I was still at home when I started receiving calls that a lot of people were in the premises, but the developer assured me that he would settle the matter before Tuesday.”
While confirming the incident, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana, said the developer has been arrested.
Elkana also said that original owners of the building were among the victims. “The son of the deceased landlord, Adeleke, had an agreement with the developer to complete the existing bungalow on the land. He also developed new flats on the remaining portion of the land and started collecting money from different persons in order to raise funds for the project.
“The house has only 15 flats but he collected money from over 100 persons and after completing the work, he handed over the keys to 15 persons. The trouble started when the rest of the victims came to occupy the apartments and they met other people there”.
He said that the developer has been arrested while, representative of the owners of the house, Adeleke has been invited to the Alapere Police Station to give his statement.
Elkana also said that four developers are involved in the scam adding that 120 victims have reported at police station and the amount collected, according to their calculation, is over N20m.
