Reasons To Stay Away From Suraya If You’re Even Thinking Of Investing With Them

As the investment firm engages investors in cat and mouse games and going on PR overdrive to save their exposed scandals. More than 50 investors have filed formal complaints at the Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit (ECCU) against Suraya Property Group which is involved in a scam amounting to nearly a billion shillings.

Suraya is being probed for allegedly swindling prospective home owners hundreds of millions of shillings in non-existent projects despite receiving full or partial payments.

Majority of the complainants yesterday visited the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters for the third time in a month to record statements of how they were defrauded in imaginary off-plan house ownership.

“In 2013, I paid Sh2.2 million for a house which was to be completed by the end of 2016. The cost of the house was Sh6.9 million and by 2016, I had paid Sh5.59 million. Upon asking why there were delays, both Muraya and Susan (directors)are always unavailable. Instead they send other people,” Joseph Laban said shortly after filing his complaint.

Directors of the real estate firm, Peter Muraya and his wife Susan Muraya, who are also the proprietors of the firm, are set to have a date with investigators over the house purchasing scams that has dogged the firm for close to a decade now.

“This involves commercial transactions. The criminal liability would come in if investigations show it was a deliberate scheme hatched to defraud,” a senior detective intimated.

Complainants’ account indicate that they invested in off-plan house purchase but the projects have either stalled or have not started yet.

Contractors engaged to undertake the construction are yet to be paid and have since resorted to auctioning Suraya land where the properties are located. They include Lynx Ngong Road, Lynx Nairobi West and Fourways Junction along Kiambu Road.

According to disgruntled investors who now say they’ve been swindled and their dreams of owning homes crushed, below are some of the reasons a potential investor should take a deep breath if not keep off completely from investing with the firm:

1. Suraya will market you a glossy looking property on a brochure and give you a spectacular discount if you buy off-plan. Fantastic offer!

2. Suraya will force you to use their lawyers as your own and you won’t be allowed to bring your own representation. You will never see your sectional title deed, meaning you can’t sell or transfer.

3. Once you make the the first payment and you are now in the bag, it’s Hotel California all the way. Once you go in you can’t come out. Severe penalties for pulling out or making late payments.

4. Stones and construction material will be dumped on site to make you think they have started construction. If very lucky building will get to 80% construction. Forget about the gyms, pool,boreholes, generator, playground that were in the brochures. Just forget it.

5. The construction itself will be 3rd or even 4th grade, pipes will continuously leak of sewage. All shortcuts possible in construction will be taken. Several contractors will be employed and fired along the way.

6. Meanwhile if you dare call or visit their offices with any issue (unless making payment) you will be treated like the villain that you are! Unanswered calls, rude emails and broken promises all through. It’s like a bad bad marriage.

7. If you do happen to eventually get tenants in your premises, prepare to charge far less than the market value, pay for so many repairs and never break even. You will receive complaints from the tenants day and night.

8. The service charge they said they would pay for you for 10 years which you paid for in the purchase price? Forget about that. You will soon end up paying for the security firm, garbage collection, cleaning services etc just to keep it humanly habitable.

9. If you are a mortgage buyer, since you can’t occupy your unit due to bank not signing off for lack of complete documentation, Suraya will rent out your unit and keep the money. You are now financing a used home instead of a new one.

10. Once you take over your property, you will be shocked to find the power and water bills used during construction amounting to millions were not paid and now you have a house-warming gift to pay off with your fellow investors. Welcome to your new home!