Abdullah Al-Wabsi, chairman of the board of directors of the Abdullah Al-Wabsi Real Estate Group, claims his company owns 408,000 square meters of land and that the allegations against his company are baseless and damaging, according to a report on Saturday in Al-Madinah daily. “Since the statement of the municipality has adversely affected the business activities of the group, I intend to file a suit against the municipality for damages," he said in a statement. "My group has never resorted to illegal methods, such as land grabbing or making false stakes on properties belonging to others.”

He added that the municipality allows others to illegally sell properties in the city of Madinah while going after "the interest of honest businessmen."

Wabsi insisted his company has proper deeds to the land issued in January 2009 by a local court that classifies it as urban farmland that may be legally sold for residential development. He said the Ministry of Agriculture has not objected to the move because the land is not arable and thus could be sold for the construction of residencies. Wabsi also claims that his attempts to acquire certification for the deal from a firm contracted by the municipality have been unsuccessful because the firm unjustly refuses to provide the certification.

“However, I got the certification by another firm, but the municipality did not accept it,” he added.

The certification allows the land to be divvied up into 408 plots, of which 45 have been sold over the past two years after the company offered the sale of the land through its offices in different parts of the Kingdom and in local advertisements. He also claims that nobody has come forward to dispute his ownership of the land except for the municipality. He said he believes some municipality employees are plotting against his company and that he has received no replies to his complaint.