REALB has no powers to prosecute bogus agents.

The Real Estate Agents Licensing Board has clarified that it does not have the legal powers to prosecute bogus agents.

REALB Chair Dr Abdul Hassan says they have reported more than 20 people to the Criminal Investigations Department.

Dr Hassan says limited powers have caused delays in prosecuting fraudsters.

“But hopefully, we are looking at changing some of the provisions in the Real Estate Agents Acts which will allow the REALB to prosecute directly, those people who are acting as bogus agents.”

He adds they will not tolerate unethical or illegal activities from salespersons or agents.

“So what we normally do, whenever we identify a bogus agent we forward the case to the criminal investigation’s department and of course, they have to follow their own protocol to deal with such cases.”

Newly appointed Registrar Peni Komainavoka says they will rely on information sharing to address this issue.

“Improve our current service that we are delivering and also the information sharing with the general public in relation to the complaints that are coming in regarding the bogus agents.”

The REALB is also looking at ways to improve service delivery.