In Dubai many houses and apartments are owned by people from other countries. A big investigation called ‘Dubai Unlocked’ has shown that most of these foreign-owned homes are held by people from India. There are about 35000 properties owned by nearly 29700 Indians and these properties are worth around $17 billion.
People from the UK also own a lot of properties in Dubai. They own about 22,000 homes and the total value is about $10 billion. Saudis are next with 16000 properties worth $8.5 billion.
The investigation also found some interesting stories about where some of the money might have come from. For example after the Taliban government in Afghanistan fell in 2001 a lot of money was given to help rebuild the country. But, some people who were supposed to help rebuild were instead accused of taking some of that money for themselves. Now it looks like some of those people own fancy houses in Dubai.
One of the stories involves Mir Rahman Rahmani who was once a big politician in Afghanistan and his son Ajmal. They reportedly spent more than $15 million on homes in Dubai but they say this is not true. At least three other people connected to money issues in Afghanistan also own homes there.
The report also mentions Vinod Adani, an Indian billionaire. He is accused of doing illegal things in the stock market and moving money wrongly as part of the Adani Group, a big business group.
There are also famous people from West Africa and some Australians connected to crimes who have homes in Dubai.
One notable person mentioned is Isabel dos Santos from Angola. She was very rich and now lives openly in Dubai sharing pictures of her life there on social media. She and her mother own a fancy apartment with a nice view in Dubai.
The investigation also mentions a Brazilian musician named Danilo Dubaiano. He is accused of a big scam involving digital currency in Brazil and owns property in Dubai.
Lastly, some Ukrainian officials who were in power when Viktor Yanukovych was the president have spent a lot of money on Dubai real estate. Some of these officials have been accused of corruption.
This ‘Dubai Unlocked’ project gives us a closer look at who owns expensive properties in Dubai and raises questions about where some of that money might have come from.
