A RICH businessman raffling his £3.2million mansion has sparked outcry – by vowing to pocket half the cash from ticket sales if he doesn’t flog enough.
Akhtar Siddiqui needs to sell 320,000 tickets for £10 each before handing over the keys to his luxury Winton House to one lucky winner.
If he fails to meet his target, the businessman will keep both the five-bed home – with harbour views, an indoor pool and orangery – and 50 per cent of the money.
The rest of the cash will be handed out as cash prizes.
Mr Siddiqui insists his share will be used to cover marketing and admin costs – but we can reveal he is the registered director of the company carrying out the marketing work.
The raffle runs until December and Mr Siddiqui has already sold almost £90,000 in tickets.
One local in Portsmouth, Hants, branded the raffle a “scam”. They ranted online: “The house will never be won. The contest needs to sell 320,000 tickets otherwise the house doesn’t get given away!
“Don’t waste your money on schemes like this, they’re scams.”
Another said: “The promoters are Lit Digi Ltd, a company founded in March 2020. There are two directors. Neither seem to have any relevant experience in selling properties or running quizzes.”
A third wrote: “He’s clever, this Akhtar boy.”
Mr Siddiqui, believed to be 60, has owned Winton House in Portsmouth, Hants, for 11 years.
The 372sqm property has three balconies, views of both the city and the harbour and a two-bed annex.
Mr Siddiqui insists he is working “very hard” to promote the raffle globally.
He said: “We are using different types of paid advertising which incurs more and often high costs, and so if the number of entries required are not met, we have decided to set the taking of the admin and marketing costs at 50 per cent.
“This is mentioned in the terms and conditions on our website, which all potential entrants are given the chance to read before they enter.”
Mr Siddiqui added: “As the owner of a marketing company it does not make sense for me to use a third party company to promote the competition.”
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