Land bank scammers claiming property in Brazil would soar in value as a result of the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games have seen their businesses wound up in the public interest by the High Court.
Five connected companies conned more than £5 million from more than 300 investors.
The high-pressure salesmen promised soaring returns due to developments connected to the sporting events.
But an investigation by the government’s Insolvency Service found the land was impossible to pinpoint and unlikely to be suitable for building.
The companies exaggerated the investment opportunity and neglected to tell buyers that the land was at least 150 miles away from the nearest World Cup stadium and 1,200 miles from an Olympics site.
Dishonest
After hearing the reality of the investment promises, the judge wound up Pantheon Realty Consultants Limited, Pantheon Realty Consultancy Limited, Pantheon Realty Limited, Pantheon Limited and PR Group Limited.
The Official Receiver was appointed to liquidate each company.
All the companies were run from the UK.
The judge, Chief Registrar Baister said the companies were ‘dishonest’ and ignored normal commercial rules.
After the hearing, David Hill, of the Insolvency Service, said: “These companies tried to link international sporting events with a bogus opportunity to lure investors to put money into their scam. When pressed, they could not support the claims and now the ripped off investors stand to lose their money.”
The men behind the scam
Pantheon Realty Consultants was incorporated on August 2011 with a registered office at 110 Warwick Road, London. The director is Ismael Rajabi.
Pantheon Realty Consultancy was incorporated in December 2011 with a registered office at Suite B, Harley Street, London. The director is Ahmed Mohammadi.
Pantheon was incorporated in May 2011 with a registered office address at Westminster Place, York Business Park, York. The director is also Ismael Rajabi.
Pantheon was incorporated in October 2006 with a registered office address at Harley Street, London. Ismael Rajabi is also the director of this company.
PR Group was incorporated in St Vincent & Grenadines in March 2011.
Land banking is a scam which involves selling worthless plots of land to investors on the promise that the price will increase when the land is developed.
In reality, the land is worthless as an investment as planning permission is unlikely to be granted for development or the land is unsuitable for building.
Typically, the sellers cold-call potential investors and try to complete a sale with high-pressure tactics.
