Dubai real estate market haven for money launderers

A report from the United States highlighted how drug traffickers, funders of armed groups such as Hezbollah, and even a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, use real estate in Dubai to launder money. The organisation that conducted the year-long research, US-based Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (C4ADS), looked at properties owned by several people who are sanctioned by either the US or the European Union (EU). According to C4ADS, the property they collectively own is worth more than $100m in prominent Dubai places such as Burj Khalifa and Palm Jumeirah. Dubai is a popular place to launder money using real estate because it lacks strict regulation and oversight, the report says. The subjects in the report hide their true ownership of the real estate by using shell companies and family members.