DAWN
Indians rank top among foreign owners with 35,000 properties estimated at $17 billion as of 2022.
After a six-month investigation led by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Norwegian outlet E24, reporters from 74 partners in 58 countries uncovered scores of convicted criminals, fugitives, political figures accused of corruption or their associates, and sanctioned individuals who have recently owned at least one piece of real estate in Dubai.
According to the leak of 2022 data assessed by economists and reporters, the number of residential properties owned by foreigners put Indians first, at 35,000 properties and 29,700 owners. The total value of these properties is estimated at $17 billion that same year.
Owners with Pakistani nationality come second among foreigners at 17,000 owners of 23,000 residential properties.
UK citizens in the 2022 sample own 22,000 residential properties and 19,500 owners, valued at $10bn, whereas Saudi nationals are listed with 16,000 properties and 8,500 owners, valued at $8.5bn.
Dubai’s international appeal
From the 37th floor of Dubai’s tallest skyscraper, the wife of an alleged Bosnian cartel member posted video after video on TikTok of the couple’s sleek rental apartment, often featuring their grey cat.
The images provided just enough clues for reporters to identify the apartment’s precise location in the city’s iconic Burj Khalifa skyscraper — and the fact that it belonged to another target of law enforcement: Candido Nsue Okomo, the former head of Equatorial Guinea’s scandal-plagued national oil company, who is under investigation for money laundering in Spain. Okomo is also the brother-in-law of long-term President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, whose family is accused by French prosecutors of looting the African country’s public resources, which are heavily reliant on oil revenues.
It’s unclear whether the tenant, Dženis Kadri?, and his landlord Okomo knew of each other’s alleged misdeeds. But their convergence in a lease agreement is emblematic of modern-day Dubai, where secrecy and years of permissive policies have left its property rolls riddled with disreputable owners.
In the case of Okomo’s high-rise apartment, reporters from OCCRP’s Serbian partner KRIK first used TikTok videos to link the unit to the Kadri?, a former policeman who was arrested in Bosnia in February on suspicion of participation in organised crime, drug smuggling, and money laundering. He was released in May but remains under investigation.
Geolocation specialists from the investigative outlet Bellingcat then used the videos to identify the specific apartment. Okomo’s ownership was confirmed by a 2023 rental contract and his listing in a tranche of leaked property data.
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