In the 1990s, the emirate’s oil revenues plummeted and its leadership began looking abroad for investments. But it has built its economy around being a home for expatriates. “It has consequently attracted large financial flows and some of the world’s most high-profile criminals.”ĭubai is a sheikhdom with internal autonomy and is part of the United Arab Emirates. “Dubai has an ask-no-questions, see-no-evil approach to commercial and financial regulation, as well as foreign financial crimes,” the group wrote in a 2020 assessment. The advocacy group ranks the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, as one of the world’s top ten enablers of both corporate tax abuse and financial secrecy. “Real estate is unique when it comes to money laundering because, unlike any other form of money laundering, you actually can live in and do business through your money laundering,” said Jodi Vittori, a professor at Georgetown University and expert on illicit finance.ĭubai is one of the world’s most secretive offshore jurisdictions, mainly due to lack of financial transparency, according to The Tax Justice Network. These individuals’ presence in Dubai’s real estate market registries highlights the danger that the emirate’s loose residency requirements and “few questions asked” approach to regulation enables questionable figures to use it as a home away from home, a place to launder their illicit gains through real estate, or simply to store their wealth. A lawyer for Výboh confirmed his ownership of a Dubai apartment. He is believed to be hiding out in the emirate.īaisarov, Borodai, Bokor, and Lyabikhov did not respond to requests for comment. Miroslav Výboh, a Slovak fugitive from corruption charges, is another alleged criminal who is listed as owning Dubai real estate. Treasury last year for enabling criminals who had obtained money through ransomware to transmit their illicit proceeds. He is known to be based in Dubai, and was sanctioned by the United States last month.Īnother is Czech citizen Tibor Bokor, the executive director of a cryptocurrency exchange that was sanctioned by the U.S. Other Russians with Dubai properties include Roman Lyabikhov, a U.S.-sanctioned lawmaker from the Communist Party, and Dmitry Rybolovlev, a controversial oligarch.Īmong the Europeans is Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of an Irish criminal group involved in cocaine trafficking and other crimes. Several European officials and lawmakers who have been accused of mishandling public funds are also among the listed owners - and some have failed to officially declare their Dubai properties.Īmong the noteworthy figures who own Dubai real estate are Ruslan Baisarov, a Russian businessman close to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, and Alexander Borodai, a sanctioned member of the Russian Duma known for becoming “prime minister” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic during Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine. They include more than 100 members of Russia’s political elite, public officials, or businesspeople close to the Kremlin, as well as dozens of Europeans implicated in money laundering and corruption. Others are public officials whose ownership of pricey properties is difficult to square with their known incomes. But reporters identified numerous owners of Dubai real estate who have been accused or convicted of crimes or are under international sanctions. Many of them are residents or legitimate investors. In this initial phase of the project, reporters focused on the European names on the list. The leak provides the first detailed public overview of those who bought property in this important Middle Eastern financial center. VG (Norway), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), TV2 (Denmark), Knack (Belgium), iStories (Russia), SVT (Sweden), Le Monde (France), De Tijd (Belgium), Fundacja Reporterow (Poland), Atlatszo (Hungary), (Czech Republic), (Poland), Direkt 36 (Hungary), MANS (Montenegro), BIRD.bg (Bulgaria), CIN (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ostro (Slovenia), RISE Project (Romania), Eesti Päevaleht (Estonia), KRIK (Serbia), Investigative Reporting Project (Italy), Context Investigative Reporting Project (Romania), and Ostro (Croatia).
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