ISLAMABAD, July 21: Over 200 people whose titles to ARY Luxury Apartments in Dubai have been cancelled by the builders threatened on Friday legal action if their titles were not restored to them.

The affected persons told a press conference here that they had already approached the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to probe what they called the illegal, fraudulent and arbitrary cancellation of their titles.

Only 20 of the affected persons have been refunded their money, they said.

They demanded the Dubai-based ARY firm respect their contract and commitments, withdraw the allotment cancellation letters, hand over possession of the apartments to buyers already issued allotment letters and to honour ARY’s undertaking to finance 70 per cent of the cost of the apartments.

ARY had launched the ARY International City Dubai Residencia project in June 2004. The apartments offered for sale were studio, one bedroom, and 2 bedrooms category.

According to the terms of contract, the buyers were to pay 30 per cent of the cost in 12 monthly instalments while the remaining 70 per cent was offered as loan under Islamic banking spread over 15 years. The loan, clients were assured, would be unconditional and guaranteed.

The company had to hand over the possession of the apartments in June 2006.

However, the affected buyers of the dream apartments in Dubai said they received a rude shock when the builders, citing some cancellation letter, asked them to get refund of their investment after deduction of service fee. The victims claimed they received no cancellation letter. The only intimation they received asked them to get their refunds.

ARY had been claiming that it cancelled the allotments of those persons who had defaulted on payments.

The victims however vehemently denied it.

Besides, they say that they had paid registration fee to M/s Nakheel, the developer of the project.

The allottees were subsequently asked to provide documents for arranging financing of remaining 70 per cent of the financing. Later they were informed that no bank was willing to provide loans to Pakistanis.

Without giving any chance to arrange alternative financing, the allottees said the management cancelled the allotment.

This, they alleged, was a “deliberate act of cheating by ARY” because the prices of the apartments had increased in the real estate market and the management felt that it could make more profit by selling them out directly after cancelling the allotment of the original allottees.

They noted that ARY had started advertising sale of apartments, previously allotted to the unfortunate Pakistanis. It was believed that ARY was making refunds to the former allottees from a $10 million loan it obtained from the National Bank of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, ARY group in a press statement said that the allegations regarding the ARY International City Dubai Residencia project were baseless and aimed at hurting the business interests and reputation of the group.

It insisted that allotment of only those buyers were cancelled who had defaulted for over a year now.

Allottees who were punctual with their payments and fulfilled other legal requirements do not need to be perturbed by the development.

The statement further assured sympathetic consideration of the cases of defaulters.