International desk: The rich people of different countries in the world have secretly built mountains of wealth in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They each own billions of dollars in wealth in this city of skyscrapers. The list includes everything from big businessmen and influential political figures to money launderers and criminals under global sanctions.
The document named ‘Dubai Unlocked’ was released on Tuesday (May 14). The list, leaked by a global investigative journalism project, includes businessmen such as Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, political figures, global embargoes, money launderers, and criminals.
The investigative journalism project ‘Dubai Unlocked’ is coordinated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Norwegian media e-twenty-four. 74 media outlets from 58 countries participated in this project. The report is published on OCCRP’s website.
The media has conducted this search based on the leaked data of some government institutions, including the Dubai Land Department. It provides a detailed picture of the assets owned and used by these individuals in Dubai, especially from 2020 to 2022.
The US-based magazine Forbes also participated in this investigative journalism. The newspaper’s journalists have pored over several hundred land registration documents in Dubai for several months to present the most comprehensive picture so far.
Journalists for the newspaper tried to find out who owns wealth in any of the world’s richest cities and how much wealth they have there. Their search turned up a lot of sensational information.
In all, Forbes found 76 properties worth more than $600 million owned by 22 billionaires and their family members. They came from 10 countries on four continents of the world.
The Forbes report lists the names of 10 billionaires, their net worth, and their assets in Dubai.
At the beginning is the name of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. His total wealth is 11 thousand twenty million dollars. ‘Various sectors’ are mentioned as sources of wealth. He has an estimated fortune of $240 million on the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.
The wealth of Indian citizen MA Yusuf Ali and his family is around 7.8 billion dollars. The source of wealth is ‘various sectors’. They have properties worth $70 million in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, and International City.
Another Indian, Shamshir Vyalil, has a net worth of $350 million. The source of wealth is the ‘Healthcare’ sector. He owns $6.8 million worth of assets in Dubai Hills and Dubai Production City.
Suhail Bahwan, a citizen of Oman, is the owner of $190 million. The source of wealth is ‘various sectors’. He has assets worth $450 million in Jumeirah Bay Island, Medan, and Downtown Dubai.
Russian citizen Andrei Molchanov and his family are worth $1.3 billion. The source of wealth is ‘building material’. They have assets worth 2.3 million dollars in the Palm Jumeirah area.
Cypriot citizen Vinod Adani owns $2,220 million worth of assets. Its source of wealth is shown as ‘Infrastructure and Commodities’. He has properties worth $20 million in Emirates Hill, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Jumeirah Park, Downtown Dubai, Dubai Marina, International City, and Dubai Silicon Oasis. However, Vinod Adani is mentioned as an Indian on the OCCRP website.
Canadian citizen Changpeng Zhao is the owner of 3 billion dollars. The source of wealth is ‘Crypto Currency Exchange’. He owns $140 million in downtown Dubai.
United Kingdom citizen Socket Burman’s net worth is $1.5 billion. The source of wealth is ‘consumables’. He owns $140 million on Palm Jumeirah Island in Dubai.
Igor Makarov, a citizen of Cyprus, owns a fortune of 2.1 billion dollars. The source of wealth is ‘investment’. He owns $1.1 million worth of assets in the Palm Jumeirah area.
Egyptian citizen Naguib Sabiris and his family are worth $3.8 billion. The source of wealth is the ‘Telecom’ sector. They have assets worth $1 million in the Palm Jumeirah area.
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. Six of them have been mentioned as political figures and one as a person under sanctions.
There are others who
Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reported that, according to leaked documents, 17,000 Pakistanis own assets in Dubai. However, using information and additional sources, the related experts believe that this number is like 22 thousand.
Names on the list include Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, and Asifa Bhutto Zardari, sons of President Asif Ali Zardari; Mrs. Ashraf, wife of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi; Hussain Nawaz, son of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif; and Saad Siddique Bajwar, son of former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwar.
Apart from this, the list includes the names of citizens of China, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the names of citizens of countries like Yemen, Nigeria, and Kenya. There is also the name of a banned arms dealer from Myanmar.
