Jaah's The Gardens: One buyer's story reveals acute problem

"I trusted Jausa and bought it, but now it's an empty shell. The money given by people was used for personal purposes," said Thaufeeg Mohamed, who bought a suite from The Gardens in Hulhumale by Jaah Investments, a real estate company affiliated with Jausa Construction.

His complaint is that despite completing payments three years ago, he is yet to receive the flat. On top of it, he now has to make loan repayments. 

Thaufeeg was seduced by a facebook post. An advertisement for the last remaining unsold suite at The Gardens, which was being developed by Jaah in Hulhumale. The renderings look perfect and tempting. There are three spacious rooms and a maid room. Inside the suite is a private swimming pool and a garden terrace. Designed by prominent designers and architects, the renderings showed spectacular suites, and Thaufeeg decided to take a loan from a bank and buy the suite.

When Jaah said he would be able to enter his suite after a couple of months, it did not cross his mind that it could be a major fraud. The two months they said at the time became more than two years. He had no idea when he would be able to get into the apartment he bought at a hefty price.

"I took a loan and bought it with MVR 7.5 million in one go. It's The Gardens's [number] 801 suite," Thaufeeg said.

"I bought the suite in September 2020. I went to the site in October and found that 95% of the work at the site was complete. It was agreed that the work will be completed and handed over by December 31, 2020."

However, by the time that date had passed, neither Thaufeeg nor anyone who had bought an apartment from The Gardens could access the place. At some point, the work had stopped.

When it started getting too delayed, he wrote several letters to Jaufar Esa Adam, executive director of Jaah Company. He finally met Jaufar with great difficulty, in November 2021.

"That time, Jaufar said there was a shortage of funds when Covid came. But there is no way he can bring the Covid situation into this project or say the delay was Covid-related," Thaufeeg said.

When Thaufeeg met Jaufar after such difficulty, he said he did not get any hopeful response from him.

"How can I meet him? Jaufar has blocked everyone [who bought apartments]. He even told me that he will block me if I call a second time," he said.

"Then he is asking us to go to court to get my rights. The lawyers say that even if the company didn't work, they can get away by submitting a progress report. They say they will do what the lawyers say."

Although Thaufeeg took Jaah to Civil Court, he is yet to find a path forward in the trial. The reason is that Jaah’s lawyers did not turn up for the hearings.

"Around 5-6 hearings have been held in the case, but their lawyers don't come to the court often by giving some excuse," he said.

"Their intention is to prolong the process by saying anything."

Thaufeeg said it was a project that started much before Covid, in 2017, and was to be completed in two years. Thaufeeg bought the suite from the project, which was stalled due to various reasons, after Covid. He cannot see any reason why it should not be completed in two months, as agreed upon at the time of the purchase.

"The Gardens is the most expensive place built in Hulhumale. Everyone was paying for it. I even asked where the money I handed over to him is. Not even MVR 4 million will be spent [by estimate] to build an apartment there," he said.

"They can't give the Covid excuse. Work is going on at other places. The places that started much later are nearing completion now."

Thaufeeg said he had come to know that the money paid by buyers had been diverted for other purposes of the company.

"They used the money to complete the construction of some resort. Someone who had earlier worked as an engineer with the Jausa company told me," he said.

The apartment Thaufeeg bought at a high price, he saw it last with his own eyes on Saturday. It was the same as it was when he went to the venue and then when he joined the protest in front of The Gardens on Saturday evening.

"I bought it in September 2020. It's still the same as it was when I bought it. According to them, they are working from top to bottom of the building. [Now] they are working on the 10th floor but there is no finishing work done there either," Thaufeeg said.

"What they do is that when buyers go there to inspect the progress of their apartment, they put construction jackets on about five people to show that they are working."

He said the land is now being used in a completely different manner as a warehouse for other Jausa businesses. 

"We were there yesterday and Jausa's lorry came and loaded some tiles from the site and left," he said.

According to Thaufeeg, a 1,000-square-foot warehouse in Male will be available for at least MVR 50,000. It would be very rare to get a 2,000-square-foot godown at less than that. Thus, using a large piece of land like The Gardens as a warehouse would save Jausa a large amount of warehousing rent.

This is the story of only one person who has been defrauded by Jaah. Everyone who has bought an apartment from there tells the same story. 

They cannot have the apartment they had bought at a hefty price, when some had paid for it with their life savings. Some people took bank loans. If they do not get rent from the apartment, they have to repay the loan from their own earnings. The losses vary. Thaufeeg has to pay MVR 60,000 per month, and the entire loan will cost him MVR 14.4 million by the end of 20 years.

Similar complaints are evident in the messages on the placards held by the protesting buyers on Saturday. One of them asked where was the flat when he was promised when he had paid with the money he had collected in his lifetime. They demanded strict action against the company. They called Jaufar a thief and called on him, asking where his shame was. They also said that The Gardens is a housing scam.

This is not the first time that the Jaah company has come under severe scrutiny in the case of The Gardens. Similar issues were raised during a series of protests by the migrant workers who did not get their salaries and had their passports seized.

There are acute problems and issues in housing projects like The Gardens. No one knows what had happened to the huge amounts of money taken from so many people. Jaufar could not be reached for comment on the allegations and concerns of buyers. He does not answer calls.

The Jaah company last published information about The Gardens on February 14, 2023. After some apartment buyers lodged a police complaint, a press release issued on the same day said that work at the site will resume on February 18. It also said that apartments on the completed floors would be handed over at the end of the day. That has not happened yet.

What is known is that even among the companies that do not pay taxes to the state, there were three companies led by Jaufar, including Jaah Investments. Since then all other Jaufar-related companies except Jaah has settled their tax dues.