Lunar lovers or lunatics? – Kuwaitis want to buy a moon plot, unaware it’s a criminal offence

Since Neil Armstrong made his giant leap on the moon over 40 years ago, the human race has targeted the moon as a leisure destination for tourism and, most recently, even as a residential location. Owning property on the moon has become a lucrative business beyond the borders of Kuwait. But dealing in moon land, a Kuwaiti lawyer says, is considered illegal.

Attorney Mubarak Mijzee explained that according to Kuwaiti law, buying land on the moon is a crime which is classified as a fraud. “The seller of property on the moon is cheating customers by misleading them with false information. Although, according to the law, the contract signed between the parties has legal power, thus the seller has to own what he sells. So selling property on the moon is illegal and considered a crime,” Mijzee said, adding that he has never heard of such a case in Kuwait or the GCC, and anybody can sue such a seller, whether it was an individual or a company selling moon property. “Even if it is a civil contract it should be canceled, since from a legal view it’s impossible to execute,” he said.

A few years ago, a real estate agency based in the United States was selling plots on the moon, and hundreds of people bought them at low prices. Recently, news circulated that some 100 Turkish customers who had purchased land on the moon received gifts from a website for $55. The customers received documents of ownership with their names and the location of their property on the moon. They were also given a map with the exact address of the land and a land deed for any potential minerals that might be mined in the future. The news circulated that more than 2.5 million people from 172 countries have bought land on the moon and the list featured many celebrities.

Lunar lovers or lunatics? Kuwaitis want to buy a moon plot, unaware it’s a criminal offence There are many websites in different countries offering acres of land for sale on the moon. For promoters and marketers, this is seen as the perfect gift. In Kuwait, some people have expressed a willingness to buy plots of land. Samar, a 30-year-old Lebanese, thinks it’s a great idea to have a holiday home on the moon. “I would surely buy a plot on the moon, if the price was only about KD 15 or KD 20, why not? It has always been a dream to reach the moon, and the moon is for everyone. It sounds like an amazing idea. I will do an online search to buy land there,” she said.

Not everyone in Kuwait is as open to the idea as Samar. Knar, 45, thinks it’s ridiculous because nobody owns the moon. “How can anybody believe such a thing or trust it? It’s like throwing money in the trash. Those who are selling the plots of land are thieves and they are cheating people. I wonder how so many people just buy such a thing, it’s not realistic,” she pointed out. For 26-year-old Ahmad, this is “nonsense”. “It’s just silly to think about buying land on the moon. Most probably, I would never go there to see this land. It’s a scam to get money from people,” he said.

By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer

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