Conman behind get-rich-quick schemes held in Dubai for fraud
Gulf News uncovered how ‘Com’ Mirza tricked people into investing money
Ahigh-flying Dubai expat accused of duping hundreds worldwide through get-rich-quick schemes has been arrested for fraud.
Canadian Aziz ‘Com’ Mirza, who lives in Burj Khalifa, drives supercars and describes himself as serial entrepreneur, mentor, influencer and philanthropist was taken into custody by Bur Dubai Police on October 27 following a complaint of a UAE resident who lost over $150,000. A source at Dubai Public Prosecution said Mirza is being investigated for fraud and is currently in Al Awir jail.
In April, Gulf News uncovered how Com Mirza had tricked people into investing into disguised Ponzi schemes, dodgy real estate projects and a crypto currency now worthless. John Barry from USA lost Dh1.8 million, Kalib Hussain from UK took a hit of Dh2,36,000 while Ippokratis Boboras from Greece pegged her loss at Dh36,000. Closer home, Umm Rayyan from Sharjah and Dubai’s Gulammohiyuddin Maskati reported losing nearly Dh400,000 between them.
The majority of the victims, however, belong to a UK-based online community platform which Com Mirza and his brother Rafaqat ‘Rocky’ Mirza joined to peddle dubious investment schemes such as the Leverage Programme (LP) and a real-estate backed crypto currency called Habibi Coin.
ADubai-based expat riate accused of defrauding investors worldwide through a string of get-richquick schemes seems to have run out of luck.
Canadian Aziz ‘Com’ Mirza, who lives in Burj Khalifa, drives supercars and variously describes himself as serial entrepreneur, mentor, influencer and philanthropist has been arrested and is now in Al Aweer jail, Gulf News can reveal.
Com, who is of Pakistani origin, was reportedly taken into custody by Bur Dubai Police on October 27, following a complaint of a UAE resident who lost more than $150,000 (Dh551,700) in his dodgy schemes. A source at Dubai Public Prosecution said Mirza is being investigated for fraud and taking money from people illegally.
Gulf News uncovers racket
In April 2019, a Gulf News investigation uncovered how Com Mirza had tricked hundreds into investing into disguised Ponzi schemes, dodgy real estate projects and a crypto currency that is now worthless.
The victims include people from as far as the US, UK, Canada and Greece. Most belong to a UK-based online community platform called the Muslim Entrepreneur Network (MEN), which Com Mirza and his brother Rafaqat ‘Rocky’ Mirza got associated with shortly after its launch in 2015.
Once on board, the duo allegedly used the platform to float an investment scheme called the Leverage Programme (LP), which guaranteed ‘financial freedom’ within a year.
Members were encouraged to join the network by forking out a minimum of £5,000 (Dh23,633) each. Enticed by promises of attractive returns, 300 signed up in early 2017. Around 1,200 more enrolled a few months later.
New recruits
Among new recruits was Sharjah-based Umm Rayyan who paid £25,000. “It was our life-savings,” she told Gulf News on Monday. “We were called for a meeting at a mall in Dubai where Com promised us financial freedom within one year. More than two years have passed since then and I have no clue where my money is,” said the Indian expat.
Nearly £4 million was raised under LP between January 2017 and 2019. Most of it was wired to the bank account of a Dubai-based firm owned by a third brother of Com while
huge amounts went to pay for personal expenses. “Between them, the brothers took millions of pounds from average people around the globe,” MEN’s co-founder Harun Rashid said in an email to Gulf News from London.
Aside from LP, scores more lost money to two other shady schemes fronted by Com — International Success Group (ISG) and a cryptocurrency called
Habibi Coin, once billed as the “bitcoin of the Middle East”.
Briton Kalib Hussain, who invested £50,000 in ISG, said the scheme was pitched as an educational subscription website where Com was supposed to teach them how to make the most of their money.
Burning one’s fingers
“But somewhere down the line, it morphed into an investment programme called ISG Capital Pool, which required members to pool in their funds and get guaranteed 10 per cent returns within 12 months from a real-estate project in Dubai,” recalled Hussain.
New Yorker Tariq Syed, who invested $100,000 in ISG, said:
“Com claimed he was a real estate mogul. We believed him.”
Dubai-based sales manager Gulammohiyuddin Maskati, 43, said he’s devastated having burnt his fingers in ISG and the real estate-backed cryptocurrency Habibi Coin launched by Com as a Sharia compliant currency. “I invested $50,000 in ISG and $25,000 in Habibi,” said Mastaki, one of the many investors who have since filed a police complaint.
Giannis from Greece and his brother jointly invested $17,000 in Habibi after meeting Com at his Burj Khalifa apartment. “He presented himself as a $500 million dollar entrepreneur,” said Giannis.
Mohammad Shareef from UK, who lost £2000 in Habibi, said he didn’t invest until he visited Com at his office in Dubai and met him in person. “We spoke for an hour. It wasn’t until this year that things started going down. Com’s Instagram posts are now all about food and gym. It’s been a sad experience for us. Until today, there’s been no official word about what has happened with Habibi Coin,” said Shareef.
Canadian Abe Arabi ($10,000), Britons Mohammad Vorajee ($2,000), Humaun Rashid (£10,000), Abdul Aim (£14,000), American Kevin Green (1,500) are among several other Habibi investors with similar stories.