Houthis create a fake project to seize citizens’ property and state lands

The Houthis did not stop at seizing around 60 billion Yemeni riyals from 13,000 Yemenis who funded Tihama Flowers CO. in Sanaa, but they also took control of 850,000 square meters of state lands in the areas of Beit Mahfad and Beit Hanbasa in Bani Matar District.

The process of fraud against Yemenis began with the announcement of sponsorship by the unrecognized Prime Minister of the Houthi government, Abdulaziz bin Habtour, along with the Minister of Public Works and Roads, Ghalib Mutlaq, the Governor of Sanaa, Abdulbasit Al-Hadi, and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, Fathia Al-Mahwaiti, launching "Tihama Flowers Investment and Real Estate Development and Commercial Company" in February 2023, and laying the foundation stone for the first phase of "Tihama Flowers City" with an area of 850,000 square meters.

After collecting billions of riyals in a project that was supposed to include commercial towers and residential villas surrounded by green spaces and public gardens, according to the latest plans and modern designs, Yemenis were surprised in December 2023, less than a year after the launch of the fraudulent project, with the trial of 41 individuals, led by Fathia Al-Mahwaiti, on charges of committing crimes of "fraud, embezzlement of funds from more than 13,000 citizens, money laundering, and providing false information" in front of a court in the southeast of the capital Sanaa.

The Public Prosecution charged the defendants, whose arrest was announced last May, with seizing 56.927 billion riyals, 4.660 million Saudi riyals, and more than 3 million dollars in Sanaa and a number of governorates.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Sana'a, the defendants, including fugitives, deceived the victims by claiming the existence of investment, commercial, and real estate activities to utilize the money collected from them. They promised to deliver monthly and quarterly profits from these activities. However, it was revealed that these were simple projects under the names of the defendants themselves, which did not generate any profits. The funds distributed as profits to the shareholders were actually the money from new shareholders, which was given to the old shareholders. The number of old shareholders was increasing significantly due to this fraudulent scheme, globally known as the Ponzi financial fraud system.

The defendants also laundered money obtained from fraud by acquiring real estate and assets in their names.

Since last January, thousands of people in areas controlled by the Houthi rebels have complained of being deceived by "Tihama Flowers Company" and having their money stolen, amounting to 19.834 billion Yemeni riyals, 1.1 million Saudi riyals, and 906 thousand dollars.

According to political observers, the trial is considered symbolic, with the aim of legitimizing the embezzlement of Yemeni funds, as the group is supported by influential Houthi leaders.

Despite having three headquarters in Sanaa and openly and officially receiving funds from shareholders, the fake company has managed to achieve its goals and seize billions of riyals and vast lands over the past months, making it the latest corruption crime of the Iran-backed Houthis.

The case of "Tihama Flowers Company" brings to mind the "Qasr Al-Sultana Group," in which 82 individuals were accused of fraud and swindling 110,000 people between January 2016 and July 2020 and onwards. They obtained financial amounts estimated at 66.3 billion Yemeni riyals.