A senior official at the Saudi consulate in the Indian city of Mumbai has denied media reports that two Indian real estate agents had tried to dupe the consulate by offering to sell it a plot of land that belonged to a government agency. Abdul Monim Abdul Mahmoud, the Saudi Consul in Mumbai, said the whole issue was blown out of proportion by the media. The fact of the matter, he said, is that there was a dispute between the agents that resulted in lodging a false report with the police. He said the consulate authorities were not so naïve as to fall prey to swindlers. The official acknowledged that the consulate was looking for a plot of land to relocate its existing office from Cuffe Parade. “We received offers from several real estate agents,” he said. “But we have nothing to do with news carried by some newspapers,” he added. Mahmoud said the purchase order is usually channeled through the ministries of foreign affairs and finance and passes through different procedures. Some Indian newspapers reported that the Bandra-Kurla Complex police were probing the case involving the two real estate agents for duping the Saudi consulate. The influential Times of India newspaper said the scam was exposed when the consulate's representative, Rajan Mehrotra, checked the land deeds and alerted the consulate which informed the police. The duo, Prakash Jain, 69, and Vipul Gadodia, 41, allegedly showed the consulate a 10,000 sq. m plot that belonged to the MMRDA, for which they wanted SR282 million (Rs3.58 billion). The agents also reportedly showed the consulate two other plots and quoted a price of over SR472 million (Rs6 billion) for both properties. – Okaz/SG The Times of India quoted a senior police official as saying that the property documents and signature of MMRDA officials were forged.
