The total value of Indian property is estimated at $17 billion.
DUBAI: According to data revealed in OCCRP's 'Dubai Unlocked' project, the number of foreign-owned residential properties in Dubai puts Indians first, with 35,000 properties and 29,700 owners. It is estimated that the total value of these properties was 17 billion dollars.
UK citizens in the 2022 sample own 22,000 residential properties and 19,500 owners, valued at $10 billion, while Saudi citizens are listed with 16,000 properties and 8,500 owners, valued at $8.5 billion.
According to the OCCRP article on its website, “As billions of US dollars flowed to rebuild Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban in 2001, many contractors were accused of diverting reconstruction funds. Today, some of them own luxury properties in Dubai.”
The report says former Afghan parliament speaker Mir Rahman Rahmani and his son Ajmal spent more than $15 million on real estate in Dubai, something they have denied. The data also shows that at least three other contractors who were involved in Afghanistan-related procurement scandals also own real estate in Dubai.
The OCCRP also says that Vinod Adani, an Indian billionaire who faces allegations of stock market manipulation and money laundering across India as a high-ranking member of the Adani Group conglomerate, is on the list.
Other politically exposed people on the list include members of three West African presidential families targeted by a long-running French corruption investigation.
It doesn't end there. Leaked data shows that at least four alleged members of the Aussie Cartel, their associates or relatives have or had luxury properties in Dubai.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, “although Interpol has called on governments around the world to find and provisionally arrest Isabel dos Santos, the former Angolan billionaire is not hiding. Instead, he regularly posts on social media about his lavish lifestyle in a Dubai residence. Now, confidential land records connect dos Santos and her mother to other properties on the waterfront of the financial center of the United Arab Emirates.”
The ICIJ adds that data from the Dubai Unlocked project shows how dos Santos and his mother, Tatiana 'Kukanova' Regan, “are co-owners of a two-bedroom apartment in a building called Sadaf, which in Arabic means 'shell', overlooking the Dubai Marina on one side and the Persian Gulf on the other.”
In addition to the international names that appear on the list, Rolling Stone magazine mentions how “Danilo Vunjão Santana Gouveia, a Brazilian highland musician who performs under the name Danilo Dubaiano” is also on the Property Leaks list. Gouveia is apparently wanted in Brazil for allegedly running a major bitcoin Ponzi scheme.
RadioFree Europe adds that, according to project data, Ukrainian officials who served during the era of President Viktor Yanukovych “invested millions of dollars in Dubai real estate, including public officials who failed to report these assets or who faced charges of corruption, abuse of power or betrayal.”
Originally published in The News
