Wealthy people from around the world have built mountains of wealth in the housing sector of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Bangladeshi nationals are also in their list. 394 Bangladeshis own 641 properties worth Tk 2,636 crore in Dubai.
This list of property owners also includes big businessmen and influential political figures of different countries. Even global embargoes, money launderers and criminals own huge wealth there.
A global investigative journalism project published the list on Tuesday. Along with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, there are family members of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
The list shows that Indians have the highest wealth in Dubai. 29 thousand 700 Indians own 35 thousand properties there. Pakistanis are second in this list. The country’s 17,000 citizens own 23,000 properties in Dubai. Its value is 1 thousand 250 million dollars.
The names of the Bangladeshi nationals have not been released. But the map published in the news shows the number of Bangladeshis, amount of wealth and prices. An international press may publish a separate investigative report on them.
The investigative journalism project titled ‘Dubai Unlocked’ has been coordinated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Norwegian media e-twenty-four. 74 media from 58 countries participated in this project. The report is published on OCCRP’s website.
The search was conducted on the basis of the leaked information of some government institutions including the Land Department of Dubai. It gives a detailed picture of the wealth ownership of foreigners especially from 2020 to 2022.
These data were collected by Washington-based non-profit organization Center for Advanced Defense Studies. The Institute conducts research on international crime and conflict. Later, the company shared these data with e-twenty-four and OCCRP.
US-based magazine Forbes also participated in this investigative journalism. In all, Forbes found 76 properties worth more than $600 million owned by 22 billionaires and their family members. They came from 10 countries in four continents of the world.
The name of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is at the beginning of the Forbes report. He has an estimated fortune of $240 million in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah artificial island. MA Yusuf Ali, another citizen of the country, and his family have assets worth $70 million in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and International City.
Citizens of UK, Egypt, Cyprus also have assets in Dubai. At least seven citizens of poverty-stricken and war-torn Afghanistan are also named in this list of people who have secretly built wealth in Dubai. Among them, six are politicians and one is a person under sanctions.
Pakistani daily Dawn reports that according to leaked documents, 17,000 Pakistanis own assets in Dubai. However, using data and additional sources, the related experts think that this number is like 22 thousand.
Names in this list include President Asif Ali Zardari’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Asifa Bhutto Zardari; Ms Ashraf, wife of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Hussain Nawaz, son of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Saad Siddique Bajwar, son of controversial former Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwar.
Dawn has highlighted the wealth of many former generals, including the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
Apart from this, the list includes citizens of countries like China, Russia and Ukraine as well as Yemen, Nigeria and Kenya. There is also a banned Myanmar arms dealer.
Meanwhile, a list published in September last year showed that the number of registered companies owned by Bangladeshis in the Emirates is increasing. In the first half of that year alone (January to June), the membership rate of Bangladeshi businessmen in the Dubai Chamber of Commerce increased by 47 percent.
In six months, 1 thousand 44 companies owned by Bangladeshis have taken membership of Dubai Chamber. In that, the total number of companies owned by Bangladeshis who are members of Dubai Chamber stands at 10 thousand 975. Many Bangladeshis are believed to have illegal assets in Dubai.