A Nigerian couple living in the United States is demanding compensation of N22 million from Landwey Investment Ltd over a failed property transaction.
A Nigerian couple living in the United States is demanding compensation of N22 million from Landwey Investment Ltd over a failed property transaction.
But the property firm owned by Olawale Ayilara has denied any wrongdoing.
Oluyomibo Olaniyan and Olubukola Akande wrote the Lagos State Government in a complaint titled, “Petition Against Landwey Investment Ltd on Flagrant Breach of Agreement on Purchase of Three Bedroom Terrace Duplex: Fraudulent Property Transaction”.
However, upon receipt of the last tranche of refund from Landwey Investment Ltd, the couple insisted that the money the Developer paid was not the true value of their money as the principal paid years back was calculated at N400 to a dollar as against N1250 to a dollar as at today.
They had paid for the construction of a three-bedroom Townhouse with one living room and a boys’ quarter in 2022 in Ogombo area of Lagos in the failed transaction.
Olaniyan said they backed out of the project because the firm did not meet its obligations to build within six months.
He said a 50 per cent payment of 26,450,000 was completed on March 19, 2022.
The couple expressed dissatisfaction with the depreciation caused by the refund after over 18 months.
They insisted that the waiting period for the refund had detrimentally devalued the money by well over 50 per cent of its original value.
They said a legal firm as well as a reputable property valuer were working to establish their case and would be demanding adequate devaluation compensations for abuse of trust.
“Landwey needs to pay us the difference in inflation rate which is $18,021 or 22 million Naira,” the couple said.
They noted that the amount they paid to the firm in dollar terms in 2022 was $44,084.
According to them, inflation had affected the refund made in two tranches because the Naira had depreciated from N1,250 to a Dollar in 2024.
They explained that they paid $44,084 which amounted to N26,450,000 when the exchange rate was N600 to a Dollar on March 19, 2022.
They said Landwey Investment Ltd in April 2023 refunded N10,000,000 when the exchange rate was N775.
They added that by January 2024 when the firm made a complete refund of N16,450,000 the exchange rate had gone higher to N1,250 to a Dollar representing additional loss.
“Total value in dollar today = 26,063 $44,084-26,063 = 18,021. Landwey needs to pay us the difference in inflation rate which is $18,021 or N22 million,” they said.
The husband, Oluyomibo Olaniyan had earlier narrated how hard his life had been working in a dangerous prison abroad and his desire to return home after 35 years.
“A lot of Nigerians abroad want to return home to invest but we are afraid of things like this,” he said.
Olaniyan, an accountant said they observed due diligence before embarking on the project by hiring an agent and a lawyer who both gave a clean bill to go ahead with the property transaction.
He said the agent that gave the link to the firm collected a consultancy fee of N2 million while the lawyer was paid a million Naira.
“We took a second mortgage in the United States to pay this guy (Landwey Investment Ltd) hoping that we will get something. Now, we are paying a loan abroad for something we didn’t get. It is not fair. When we changed the money, we changed one dollar to N400. It was $65,000. Now, the money has lost value fourfold,” he said.
He called for government intervention to encourage a large population of diasporan Nigerians willing to return home to invest to have confidence in Nigeria.
He said there were pictures of the firm’s owner with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the Oni of Ife giving credence for people to trust in the company.
“It’s not easy where we work. I work in the most dangerous prison in America. Sometimes I get beaten up, spat on, cursed at, and people dying everyday.
“We gather that money and say oh I want to do something in my country and get swindled?,” he queried.
The wife, Olubukola Akande lamented their inability to bring their children home on vacation because of the inability to secure the house.
Responding on behalf of Landwey Investment Ltd, a senior official, Chinonye Agwuncha, said the firm did not breach any agreement.
She insisted on a phone call that the firm honoured all its obligations and would carry out the last payment.
She declined to comment when contacted a second time on the issue of payment of compensation due to the depreciation of the currency, insisting the client should write through a lawyer for proper documentation.
“He should ask his lawyer to write to us. I wouldn’t speak on that topic unless he gives us a complaint because the communication between him and the company is effectively documented from point start till the point he was paid. And at all times he was in the know of how much he was getting. So if after he has received his money, he decides to carry out any action, we can’t stop a client from doing that.
“So we will wait to get formal communication from his attorney, while we respond,” she added.
This won’t be the first time Landwey has been accused of collecting money from prospective home buyers and refusing to follow up on their promises to them.
Back in 2022, a Nigerian entrepreneur based in the United Arab Emirates had accused the real estate company of refusing to hand over his property to him despite making full payment.
The entrepreneur (name withheld) said that he first deposited N5 million for a roof in June 2020. He said he paid another N37 million three weeks after the first payment. Landway then assured him that his house would be ready by November 2020.
He said that Landwey later told him that they would give him another house at a different property in Ogombo, Lagos, after they had sold it which caught his fancy. The entrepreneur said that he agreed with the firm, but that’s how his test began.
“In November 2020, he asked me to be patient as he had not completed the house. Landwey told me to wait three full months. By this time I had left Dubai for Nigeria. Having patience, I waited for another three months, but they did not give me their house.
“In the first half of 2021, I called them several times to find out why they didn’t give me the keys to the house, but they kept asking me to be patient. In the second half of the year they stopped picking up my calls. I don’t know why.”
He said he made a partial payment for a plot of land with the company, but when asked for a refund, he said he would only pay 30 percent of what he paid.
“It’s been almost two years now, and they haven’t given me their house yet. I paid in full, still I don’t know what is happening,” he said.
