From Mr. Harris' home town newspaper.
http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/midlands-news/2009/10/04/birmingham-businessman-linked-to-egyptian-property-scam-66331-24845060/
Oct 4 2009 by Ben Goldby, Sunday Mercury
INVESTORS fear they may have lost their life savings in an alleged Egyptian property scam – fronted by a disqualified Birmingham businessman.
Customers were encouraged by Andrew Harris to hand over £100,000-a-time for luxury apartments in the Egyptian holiday resort of Hurghada.
The entrepreneur was banned from being a UK director in 2005, but sold the flats through Property Hotspots Worldwide.
Buyers who dreamed of retiring to north Africa claim their properties were double-sold without their knowledge – and may not even have been owned by Mr Harris or the Solihull company.
They have complained to the British Embassy, Egyptian Police and Solihull Trading Standards but have been left frustrated by a lack of action.
Now the investors are clubbing together in a bid to raise enough funds to buy back their properties from the legitimate Egyptian landowner.
Meanwhile, Mr Harris, of Hampton-in-Arden, Warwickshire, is refusing to answer calls and is said to have been forced to leave Egypt because of the dispute.
When the Sunday Mercury tried to contact Property Hotspots Worldwide, its phoneline was disconnected.
And no-one responded to an e-mail sent through the company website – which is registered to Mr Harris’ home address. His mobile phone also remains switched off.
Pleaded
Investors say the businessman previously pleaded for time to raise the remaining cash needed to pay the Egyptian landlord for their properties at the Regency Towers and Regency Continental developments.
But they fear they may have lost their money for good.
Grandmother Margaret Handley, 63, of Nottingham, paid up front for her apartment in January.
After 27 years as a warehouse worker, she had planned to spend her retirement in the Egyptian resort and eventually wanted to hand the property on to one of her 11 grandchildren.
“We’ve been ripped off,” she told the Sunday Mercury.
“I was told in January to pay the final instalment because I was assured the apartment was finished and there was a 12-month guarantee in case anything went wrong.
“But when we flew out there to see it, the place was a tip. I couldn’t speak because I was so upset.
“There were no doors, no windows, tiles were broken, wires were hanging out of the sockets, there were cigarette ends and empty bottles on the floor. It was a nightmare.
“I confronted Harris about it, but he fobbed me off saying they would finish it all next week, and then the week after, and then the week after that...
“Now I have seen on the internet that flats in my block that I know have already been sold are back up for sale. Someone is trying to sell them off twice.
“We’re now trying to get together as a group of buyers to get our properties released to us from the Egyptian landlord.
“I’m at the end of my tether, I’ve lost a lot of weight and I’m not well.”
Grandparents Dawn and Wayne Harris, 50, also thought they had found a perfect retirement property in Hurghada to enjoy with their seven grandchildren.
But the couple say they their dreams have been ruined by the property dispute.
“We paid in full for a two bedroom apartment in Regency Towers from Andrew Harris back in 2008,” Dawn said. “In May we found out through the internet that our apartment, along with 13 others in the complex, had not been paid for and a dispute had started between Andrew Harris and the owner of the building.
“Our contract states Andrew Harris owns an area of land consisting of 4,000 square metres known as Regency Towers – but it has turned out he never owned the building.”
Incensed by the situation, the Harris family travelled to Egypt to confront the Birmingham businessman, but claim they were left with more broken promises.
“He swapped our apartment for another one that wasn’t in dispute and we have a signed and dated contract for it,” Dawn said.
“But a few weeks ago we found out Mr Harris had already resold our replacement apartment, which we had moved into and had spent money on.
“We have lost our apartment and our money.
“It wasn’t until the dispute we discovered Mr Harris had been disqualified in the UK.
“We are extremely upset and angry.”
Investors have flocked to the Egyptian coast in recent years to purchase bargain overseas holiday homes.
Hurghada has become increasingly popular with ex-pats, along with the nearby resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh.
Father-of-two Mark Goble, 50, also brought a holiday home through Mr Harris in Hurghada and criticised the Egyptian authorities for failing to act over the complaints.
“The police are turning a blind eye and there are no regulatory bodies you can turn to,” he said.
“The restaurant and bar at the complex have been cleaned out. And my property is one of nine broken into recently, with many items stolen.
“The security guards have switched sides. They seem to be helping the crooks, while tenants have been evicted either by threats or from water and electric being disconnected.
“Lawyers are also screwing investors for extra money when things go wrong and corruption seems to be rife.
“It’s scandalous.”
The Sunday Mercury has discovered that Mr Harris previously supplied holiday homes to Somerville Leisure, which was wound up by the Department of Trade and Industry in 2001 following an investigation into dodgy holiday deals.
The DTI found the Essex-based company misled people into buying its shares with promises of exclusive holidays through their ‘Dream Leisure Club’.
The business was wound up when investigators found it had gone bust, despite “taking excessive commissions for sales of shares with no adequate accounting records”.
