Real estate investment company Landwey has cited “COVID-19, inflation, contractual issues, unforseen challenges and availability of materials” among the reasons for its failure to deliver housing to customers it took money from, dating back to 2020.

Landwey made the claims in a letter dated July 6 and specifically addressed to FIJ after its ‘Landwey, Money Heist’ investigation of June 30.

READ MORE: ‘Landwey, Money Heist’: A Real Estate Company With Access To Power Is Getting Away With Daylight Ponzi

THE FIRST TIME EVER

The statement, titled ‘Clarity on Construction Delay Allegations’, was the first time Landwey was responding a series of FIJ’s publications since 2021 on the anguish of numerous clients whose real-estate invesments had not translated to housing. It was also sent a day after the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (FCCPC) confirmed its intention to investigate Landwey for possible consumer rights violations.

“We refer to your recent articles and publications on the official website of Foundation for Investigative Journalism and the Twitter handles of @fijnigeria and @fisayosoyombo, the forerunner of FIJ Nigeria, regarding construction delay and delivery issues purportedly reported to you by some of our clients. We appreciate your efforts in shedding light on matters concerning our company, as transparency and open communication are core values we uphold,” read the letter.

“However, after carefully reviewing the articles, we noticed the inaccuracies and a lack of balanced reporting, leading to a one-sided portrayal of the situation. As a responsible and reputable company, we believe it is crucial to ensure accurate information is conveyed to the public. Hence, we deem it necessary to address these concerns.”

NOTHING CLOSE TO THE TRUTH

FIJ rejects Landwey’s categorisation of its work as “a lack of balanced reporting, leading to a one-sided portrayal of the situation”.

FIJ gave Landwey nearly three months to respond to its latest work, having sent an email and a WhatsApp message to Landwey on March 7 and March 8, respectively, requesting its position on the complaints of its subscribers.

READ MORE: BREAKING: FCCPC To Investigate Landwey After FIJ’s ‘Money Heist’ Story

However, rather than offer clarifications, Landwey, through its Eximious Partners solicitors, accused FIJ of “cyberbullying, harassing, and cyberstalking their clients and staff”.

This was after an earlier pre-action letter from Eximious Partners threatening FIJ with a N1 billion lawsuit. Both moves were in line with Landwey’s posturing since FIJ’s first piece on their operations in 2021 — moves that included Google SEO manipulation with sponsored content, the use of Twitter influencers to artificially mask FIJ’s work, and a cyber attack on FIJ’s website through Digital Ocean that was the peak of their determinaton kick the first piece off the Internet.

READ MORE: How Olawale Ayilara’s Landwey Falsified Information to Get FIJ’s Website Suspended

‘DELAYS CAN OCCUR’

However, in their recent letter, Landwey acknowledged the delays in its construction project, qriting:

“We acknowledge that delays can occur in construction projects, and we are committed to navigating the factors resulting in the delay to ensure timely service delivery to our clients. It is our top priority to deliver projects in a timely manner while maintaining the highest standards of quality, therefore, we find it imperative to address these publications as follows:

1. Project-Specific Factors: Construction projects are complex endeavors influenced by a multitude of factors, including the Covid – 19 pandemic, inflation, contractual issues due to variations from contractors, unforeseen site challenges, Government and Regulatory permit delays, availability of materials, Forex fluctuations, labor shortage and workforce issues, just to mention a few.
2. MitigationEfforts:Wehavetakenandcontinuetotakestepstomitigatedelaysandminimize their impact on our clients. This includes enhanced project management strategies, communication protocols, active collaboration with relevant stakeholders, such as contractors, suppliers, and manufacturers, and seeking the assistance of new contractors to establish an updated work schedule. We are also addressing pricing variations with previous contractors, and we are nearing the completion of this meticulous exercise.
3. Client Satisfaction: While delays can undoubtedly lead to frustrations, we also believe it is important to highlight the satisfaction of a significant majority of our clients who have successfully completed projects with us. We believe this will present a more balanced view of our overall performance, and the public can gain a fair understanding of our commitment to excellence.
4. Contractual Arrangement: The relationship between Landwey and its subscribers is based on a contractual agreement that is both detailed and binding. This contractual relationship also includes provisions for dispute resolution in the event of any conflicts or disagreements between the parties involved.”

MORE AGGRIEVED LANDWEY CLIENTS RREACHING OUT TO FIJ

Since the release of FIJ’s reports about Landwey, and news of the FCCPC’s interest became public, more and more Landwey clients have continued to contact FIJ to recount their ordeals after investing with Landwey — some referring to the company’s operations as “ponzi”, others calling it a “fraud”.

In response to these complaints, Landwey, in its letter to FIJ, asked that its clients contact them directly with their grievances.

READ ALSO: To Hide FIJ’s ‘Landwey, Money Heist Story’, Paid Social Media Influencers Trend #Landwey

“Our company has been wrongfully labeled as a ‘ponzi scheme’. This assertion is completely untrue and can due to its falsehood, cause significant reputational damage,” read the statement.

“We would like to note that a ponzi scheme is characterized by lack of transparency, involvement in illegitimate or shady investment activities, and the promise of unrealistically high returns to attract customers. These characteristics are clearly inapplicable to Landwey, as our business model revolves around off-plan arrangements with tangible and conclusive benefits, such as the delivery and complete handover of properties to subscribers through a Deed of Assignment, which transfers ‘all’ interests in the property to the subscriber.

“We maintain an open and accessible address for our operations, along with clear communication channels that allow subscribers to reach us at any given time and we are committed to addressing any concerns or issues that may arise and are always cooperative in exploring proper dispute resolution mechanisms.

“Hence, we kindly request to address these concerns so as to provide clarity on the matter, and can be reached via email at [email protected]. Alternatively, where you prefer a more direct conversation, please contact us on +2348092611110. Our objective is to foster transparency and provide accurate information to address any concerns raised by our clients or the public.”