$200bn Scam: EFCC Seals Dubai-Based Real Estate Firm’s Offices In Abuja

First Group-EFCC-SealedThe offices of The First Group company, a real estate firm located on the seventh-floor of the Bank of Industry building in the Central Business District, Abuja, were yesterday sealed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The company, according to those in the know, incurred the wrath of the commission following receipt of complaints that it was engaged in a phony real estate scam in which innocent Nigerians were duped to the tune of $200 billion.

It would be recalled that operatives of the EFCC had in May 2016 raided the offices as part of investigations into the alleged property fraud.

During the raid, several implicating documents were discovered, including a list of high profile patrons.

Investigations into the scam, operatives said, revealed that the company, originally known as TFG Real Estate Limited, operates in Nigeria in the guise of being The First Group Company, a Dubai-based real estate firm, which is not registered in Nigeria.

EFCC sources disclosed that the modus operandi of the company was to lure innocent Nigerians interested in owning properties in Dubai, into parting with their hard-earned money.

A source said such unsuspecting Nigerians are mandated to make the payments in installments, which are deliberately structured in a way that the debt is difficult to offset, and as soon as one defaults, the company seizes the money.

As at the time of publishing this report, the company was yet to react to the sealing of its offices by the EFCC.