Dubai Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===International crime hub and criminal haven=== Dubai is a notorious global centre and sanctuary for criminals and their associates. It has been called a 'gangster's paradise'.<ref>Liam Collins, 'Gangsters' paradise – Dubai's finely spun web starts to unravel', Irish Independent, 21 February 2021; [https://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/gangsters-paradise-dubais-finely-spun-web-starts-to-unravel/40114262.html]</ref> This includes money laundering by major crime syndicates. This state of affairs has been enabled by a complex range of factors: the lack of extradition treaties with many countries, banking secrecy, liberal visa policies, low taxes, a large expatriate community in which shady figures are easily absorbed and welcomed, a non-transparent real estate market that readily enables money laundering, and not least, the monarchical dictatorship of the Maktoum family which facilitates it through deliberately lax legislation and policy.<ref>Dubai's Golden Sands, Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), 12 June, 2018; [https://www.occrp.org/en/goldensands/]</ref><ref>Christian Baghai, 'How Dubai Became a Safe Haven for Europe’s Most Wanted Criminals', Medium, 28 December 2023</ref> One international billionaire criminal it has harboured is Amit Gupta, who bribed Nauru politicians in an attempt to stage a coup that would give him control of that island's mining rights.<ref>'Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard, 'The man who tried to buy a country', The Age, 9 March 2024; [https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-man-who-tried-to-buy-a-country-20240227-p5f83r.html]</ref> Another transnational crime figure to whom the citystate provides sanctuary is Ahmed Al Hamza.<ref>One of Melbourne’s most powerful gangsters lives half a world away, ''HeraldSun'', 8 September 2023;[https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/powerful-melbourne-crime-figure-pulling-strings-from-afar/news-story/200819abcf6e826ab9a4faeaccdcd249]</ref> ''Dubai’s Role in Facilitating Corruption and Global Illicit Financial Flows'', a 2020 report from influential Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stated: "part of what underpins Dubai’s prosperity is a steady stream of illicit proceeds borne from corruption and crime...Meanwhile, both Emirati leaders and the international community continue to turn a blind eye to the problematic behaviours, administrative loopholes, and weak enforcement practices that make Dubai a globally attractive destination for dirty money.”<ref>Matthew T. Page, Vodi Vittori, 'Dubai’s Role in Facilitating Corruption and Global Illicit Financial Flows', 7 July 2020; [https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/07/07/dubai-s-role-in-facilitating-corruption-and-global-illicit-financial-flows-pub-82180]</ref> Dubai is an investment base for the international drug trade by Balkan criminal groups, while Belgian criminals are notably active in its real estate market on behalf of Russian oligarchs and politicians, who seek to launder their ill-gotten gains.<ref>Christian Baghai, 'How Dubai Became a Safe Haven for Europe’s Most Wanted Criminals', Medium, 28 December 2023</ref> In 2022, a data leak obtained by the U.S. Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), exposed just some of this activity.<ref>Matthew Kupfer, Eiliv Frich Flydal, 'Dubai Uncovered: Data Leak Exposes How Criminals, Officials, and Sanctioned Politicians Poured Money Into Dubai Real Estate', Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), 3 May 2022; [https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/dubai-uncovered-data-leak-exposes-how-criminals-officials-and-sanctioned-politicians-poured-money-into-dubai-real-estate]</ref> Dubai is under observation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which is likely to bring greater international scrutiny and pressure on its government.<ref>Matthew T. Page, Vodi Vittori, 'Dubai’s Role in Facilitating Corruption and Global Illicit Financial Flows', 7 July 2020; [https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/07/07/dubai-s-role-in-facilitating-corruption-and-global-illicit-financial-flows-pub-82180]</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page