REGA investigates real estate broker over involvement in fraud

Logo of Real Estate General Authority (REGA)

Tayseer Al-Mufarrej, Spokesperson for the Real Estate General Authority (REGA), said that a well-known real estate broker was investigated over involvement in fraud.

Al-Mufarrej explained on X that the broker was a victim to a scammer, who claimed to be the owner of a property with a tenant and wanted to finalize a lease contract. The scammer had managed to obtain information about the property's title deed after contacting the actual owner, pretending to be a prospective tenant.

The broker proceeded with the transaction and issued the lease contract without verifying the identity of the property owner to ensure that the person was indeed the title deed holder. As a result, the scammer was able to continue his fraudulent scheme with the unsuspecting tenant.

REGA was able to stop the transaction before money transfer. However, this time the victim was the real estate broker himself, who failed to exercise the necessary due diligence in verifying the documents and the ownership of those documents, as required by his responsibilities as a broker, Al-Mufarrej added.