Ajman investors to file fraud case

A group of 20 property investors from abroad turn up in Dubai to demand a meeting with the Ajman developer Casamia Star.

Property investors Masood Saeedi, left, Saeed Saeedi, centre, and Farhad Norouzi, right, go over their documents before going to the office of Casamia Star LLC with 12 other investors to complain.

A group of 20 property investors from Canada, the UK and Pakistan turned up in Dubai yesterday demanding a meeting with the Ajman developer Casamia Star, which they claim has failed to update them on their investments. The group said they had bought properties in Frankfurt Residence, a yet-to-be built tower in Ajman. Casamia's general manager, Merzak Gaci, refused to meet the group as they had not made an appointment and they were "rude". Mr Gaci called police. Two officers turned up but there were no arrests.

The investors then went to the Bur Dubai police station to file a complaint against the company. "The police told us to come back at 7.30 in the morning to file a case for fraud," Mr Ghulam said. Afterwards, he said, the group would go to the Ajman Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Agency. Casamia Star was established by the German architect and entrepreneur, Hendrik Hommel. Mr Hommel is currently in Germany and unavailable for comment.

"We thought it was a German company and we trusted the market," said Farhad Norousi, a spokesman for the investors. "But in February the developer Casamia Star sold its brokerage branch, also called Casamia Star. And in June the brokerage told us they have cancelled their contract with the developer, whose director has disappeared and they are no longer responsible" He said investors did not know what had become of the money they had already submitted.

Mr Gaci said the contract with the developer had been cancelled because of a lack of co-operation, which "means when somebody does not pay you, does not give you the status of your construction". He added: "What will happen to the investors? We all want to know. The investors' money is in the developer's account." [e-mail]