UAE on the verge of sanctions by Europe

The dark corners of the UAE money laundering around the world has put Dubai on the verge of being blacklisted for money laundering and financial sanctions by the European Union.

A European study has uncovered the UAE's secrets and hidden agents on the world's major money laundering networks and the attraction of international funding under the auspices and management of three senior Abu Dhabi officials, including the new UAE president Mohammed bin Zayed and businessman Mansour bin Zayed, a businessman and billionaire minister, and Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE national security adviser.

According to study by a well-known researcher, Craig A Anderson, the networks that Abu Dhabi has set up to serve these individuals include influential foreign personalities, businesses, banks, pressure groups in Washington, and even think tanks, many of which are affiliated with Mansour bin Zayed's bodyguard or Tahnoun's strategic affairs office.

This research states: "Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's wealth abroad has shifted from London, New York and other European cities to one side only to escape Western sanctions, and that is none other than the UAE, particularly Dubai.

In this regard, the UAE, despite being the main US partner in the Middle East, has acted more than any other country to help Russian capitalists circumvent US-led Western sanctions.

Therefore, in addition to mafia leaders and dictators in the Middle East, it has now become a hub for Russian investors and capitalists, followed by large networks of money laundering, with the management and nobility of the country's top leaders.

For example, DP World and Free Zones Emirati multinational logistics companies based in Dubai, which provides logistics services, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones in countries such as Djibouti, Aden and Dakar, allows investors, capitalists or countries under sanctions, to continue their economic and financial activities by circumventing sanctions.

However, the actions of these networks are not limited to this, rather, during the siege and embargo on Qatar by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the country made the most of its profit in the European banks, including Banque Havilland in Luxembourg, to wage an economic trade war against Doha, and at the same time the country used its extensive networks of pressure to involve Brussels, London and Washington in his policies against Doha.

As of now, although Dubai is not known as a financial center in the world, but the emirate has become the center of commercial and economic activities and the acquisition of illegal money and Club Med's suspicious money, has also become an integral part of the UAE's foreign and trade policy.

Research shows that the UAE offers financial and monetary services and investment opportunities to earn as much money as possible to any person or country, regardless of all international financial and economic rules and regulations. An issue that put the country on the FATF International Anti-Money Laundering Group's "Gray Countries" list in early March, but it is also unlikely that the UAE government will reform its financial system, as it knows that any reform of the system would mean the loss of influential partners and customers in areas of strategic interest.

The latest news in this regard indicates the intention of the Europeans to put the UAE on the black list of money laundering and support of terrorism. The draft is presented to the European Parliament and emphasizes that there are about 800,000 real estates in Dubai, each of which is somehow linked to financial crime and money laundering.

Research by an American think tank on the UAE housing market in 2020, has called on the European Union to take strict measures to combat money laundering by the UAE. 

This field study reveals that the owners of many of the most luxurious villas and apartments in Dubai are international drug traffickers and corrupt leaders and officials from other countries who are often under international prosecution.

Research shows that the luxury real estate sector in Dubai is a major cause of money laundering in the country. Describing the situation in Dubai's real estate market, Marcos Verber, a member of the European Parliament from the European People's Party (EPP), described the situation as "tricky" in response to the EU's move to blacklist the UAE.

"This amount of money laundering seen in the UAE, along with the weak anti-money laundering regulations in the country, has raised many concerns about the organized crime and international corruption," he said.

Although the amount of money laundering in the UAE real estate sector and its real figure is still unknown, the information obtained so far indicates that the amount is more than $ 30.6 billion.

Author: Edward Wilson