Operatives of the Lagos Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested five persons over alleged real estate scam. The suspects were apprehended at the point of exchange of money and keys as they were about to fraudulently lease out someone else’s duplex in Lekki Phase 2 to a house seeker for a sum of N4.5 million.
Abolade Oladimeji (43), Ademola Ayo (45), Emmanuel Fabiyi (65), Ademola Hakeem (49), and Sunday Ayodele (52) were arrested in Lekki Phase 2 after almost sealing the deal.
The suspects, all of whom are real estate agents living in border towns of Lagos and Ogun, had pretended to be agents of the duplex. To expand their dragnet, they had advertised the property on jiji.com with a total lease package for a year put at N4.5 million.
According to the police, Ademola Hakeem, the leader of the syndicate, confessed to have used his knowledge of computer to post for sale and lease of non-existing landed property, apartments and buildings on various websites, thereby luring unsuspecting victims with attractive prices.
In his confessional statement, Hakeem disclosed that earlier in September, he posted a vacancy of a 4-bedroom duplex in Lekki Phase 2 which attracted so many people, amongst whom was their latest victim.
“Immediately he called me through the contact on the advertisement, I knew he was genuine. I mobilized my colleagues and allocated roles to each of them to make the deal seamless. Abolade Oladimeji conducted himself as the estate lawyer. He discussed at length with our client on the legal angle as well as visitation before payment.
“Ademola Ayo was in charge of taking client on house or land inspection. Emmanuel Fabiyi, the eldest among the team played the role of a principal agent and sometimes acted as site engineer, while Sunday Ayodele assisted Fabiyi to make him look like a big man who is well groomed and seasoned in the business.
“After the inspection, the man requested to pay us with a cheque. Initially, we rejected as our mode of payment is through bank transfer. This is to avoid too much contact as we have dedicated account owners who connive with various teams of fraud syndicates that receive deposits into their accounts and collect 30% of the proceed. After much deliberation on the mode of payment, we agreed to collect the cheque,”the statement read.
According to sources, the victim suspected the agents and did a little research, which led him to the real landlord of the estate. Together, they played along with the fraudsters while a police team was briefed on the development.
Consequently, a Decoy Team of the RRS ambushed and arrested the suspects.
According to Emmanuel Fabiyi, popularly called Baba, his age had been helpful to the syndicate. He disclosed that the police made them repay N3.2 million in one of their recent scams, though they had been involved in many successful property scams in Lagos and Ogun States.
While pleading never to return to the business if released, he stated that his family had warned him not to get involved in any fraudulent deals again.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Zubairu Muazu, has advised Lagosians to be more careful while dealing with estate/property agents and always request to see the owner of the property before parting with money.