A GROUP of Brits have lost thousands after their dream newbuilds turned out to be “dodgy”.
Hundreds invested in the project in Ras-Al-Khaimah, UAE, which was funded from a supposedly state-guaranteed escrow account, only to face delays and disappointment.
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The scheme promised investors ownership of luxury flats on the country’s Marjan Island, which they could either live in or have developers, Pure Real Estate, rent out on their behalf.
Those involved paid a hefty deposit and made regular payments to buy the flats, which they could then take ownership of and either live in them or ask the company to rent them out.
However, Pure Real Estate folded in 2014 and investors claim that the company emptied the escrow account, which should not have been able to happen until the development was completed.
The project was then taken over by a new developer, Uniestate, who investors claim have not paid them back and are still demanding money, often for payments that have already been made.
Investors now say that they have been left out of pocket, while they have not been allowed to take possession of the heavily delayed apartments, which they claim are nothing like what was advertised and are being rented out without permission.
Paul Rogers, 68, was left feeling like a “fool” after losing roughly £64,000 to the development.
Paul, a retired fireman from the north of England, read about the project in the paper while at work and thought it was a guaranteed investment.
He told The Sun Online: “Being a fireman I had no idea what an escrow was…but they assured me my money was 100% safe.”
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Paul explained that he paid for the apartment in installments between 2008 and 2012 before realising something was off.
He recalled: “It all went horribly wrong…the escrow account had been emptied but I kept getting letters asking for payments I’d already made.
“The companies have been making money hand over fist and I’ve got nothing.”
He claimed that the development was eventually finished in 2019, about seven years after it was meant to be, but he was only notified about it in 2022.
Now, he alleges that the building is a “glorified office block” which has been rented out without the investors’ permission.
Paul, whose wife Pauline passed away last year, added: “I’ve no idea where my money’s gone. You feel such a fool and totally inadequate.
“We struggled to make ends meet [and] my wife passed away with no resolution.
“The British ambassador had no inclination to help us at all…they didn’t even get back to us.
“I just feel so embarrassed…I’m considerably poorer than I would have been otherwise.”
Lesley Lenny, a retired credit controller from the South East, also lost out after investing in the scheme to supplement her pension.
She and her husband, a former police constable, thought they were “going to be set up for life” but were left about £60,000 out of pocket by the time they smelled a rat and stopped paying their installments.
Lesley, 70, told The Sun Online that they went to an expo explaining the development at the West Ham stadium and thought it was “great”.
She said: “You couldn’t believe it would ever go wrong.
“Then, a few payments in, the exchange rate changed and it became more expensive.
“It all went a bit dodgy…we didn’t really want to pay any more.”
Then, the couple realised that the escrow account had been emptied and their contributions lost.
Lesley, whose husband died in 2013, recalled: “We just thought ‘this has gone wrong and we’ve made a mistake’.
“It’s a lot of money at the end of the day. This was going to be an investment for our pension.
“We thought we were going to be set up for life. We’d have been having a nice life and it’s all gone flat.”
Uniestate has been contacted for comment.
Pure Real Estate folded in 2014, but The Sun Online has attempted to contact the company.
The Foreign Office declined to comment.
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