Bogus agents cheat house buyers of more than RM30m
NST 15/5/2004

JOHOR BARU, Fri. - About 10,000 unsuspecting house buyers have been cheated of more than RM30 million over the last 10 years by buying non-existent low-cost houses.

The scam, according to the Johor House-Buyers' Association, usually involved bogus property agents claiming to have links with "datuks" or other prominent politicians in Johor.

Its chairman, Ng Ching Sea, said majority of the victims lost about RM3,000 each in deposits paid for their dream homes, which were never delivered.

"Once the money is paid, they (the agents) abscond," he said, adding that the victims believed the conmen because the latter claimed to have strong links with top politicians or even members of the royal family.

"Ninety-five per cent of the victims were cheated by real estate agents claiming to have the support of `datuks' and `tengkus'.

"Others were conned by self-employed agents, who claimed to be affiliated with Barisan Nasional component parties, which were given quotas for low-cost house allocations.

"These conmen preyed on illiterate and innocent house-buyers, who failed to understand that the only way to get a low-cost unit is to go to the Housing Board and apply for one," he said.

"The irony is that even though most of the buyers are low-wage earners, they have no misgivings paying large sums for units in good locations," he said.

Last Tuesday, a housing agent was charged in two magistrate's courts here with cheating 19 low-cost house buyers of their deposits. Ng described the case as "just the the tip of the iceberg", saying that his association received 10,000-odd complaints on the same matter over the last 10 years.

Asked for his reaction, State Executive Council Member Datuk Baderi Dasuki said the Housing Board had never appointed any brokers or agents for the sale of low-cost houses.

"Under the open registration system introduced in 2000, all applicants must go to the Housing Board and apply on their own.

The applications are decided by balloting. "The victims have only themselves to blame. There is no need to go through a third party to buy a low-cost house in Johor," said Baderi, who heads the State Public Works and Housing Committee.
 

A victim, Mohamed Mamat, 38, said he paid RM1,500 as a deposit to a broker for a low-cost house in Taman Molek here two years ago, but the broker had since disappeared.

He said his friends were also conned of between RM1,500 and RM3,000 each. Another victim, Aishah Abdulah, said she paid RM3,000 to a housing agent who claimed he knew a "datuk" who could use his connections to get a house
in Tampoi quickly. She, too, lost her money when the agent went missing.