JEDDAH: The Jeddah governor’s office has directed police to investigate a retired school principal’s complaint about a real estate establishment that defrauded her of a large sum of money and did not fulfill its promise to sell her a house.
“I’ve received a letter from the governor’s office instructing me to contact the Jeddah police in connection with my complaint against a real estate firm,” Najat, the fraud victim, told Arab News.
She added that she had filed a case against the firm in the local court shortly before receiving the letter from the governor’s office. The case would be considered in a sitting after 45 days, she said.
Najat was defrauded SR92,000 by a real estate firm that promised to immediately sell her a house at a cheap price. But the firm did not hand her the house even though she had waited over two months.
Abdullah Al-Qushairi, editor of the ads section of a local newspaper, told Arab News that swindlers advertise with unlicensed weekly publications that contain only advertisements.
He added that most of these publications are operating illegally even if they are published by another licensed firm.
“They are willing to promote any illegal activity if they are paid in cash. They do not worry about their responsibility to society and verifying the truth of the claims made in advertisements.
On the other hand, licensed newspapers have a special section to verify the truth of claims in advertisements,” he said.
