Committed to safeguarding the global financial system: UAE Embassy

United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials have said the country is committed to protecting the integrity of the global financial system following a bombshell report on various global elites’ ownership of properties in Dubai.

Several politicians, globally sanctioned individuals, alleged money launderers and criminals are listed among the thousands of asset holders in the Gulf state. Pakistanis have also been identified in the list and their combined worth has been estimated at around $11 billion.

“The country takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously,” the statement from the UAE embassies in the United Kingdom and Norway said.

The statement comes after the Global Collaborative Investigative Journalism Project exposed the ownership of properties by the global elite in Dubai. The list includes political figures, globally recognized individuals, alleged money launderers and criminals. Pakistanis have also been identified in the list and their combined worth has been estimated at around $11 billion.

However, UAE officials – including the ministries of interior, economy and justice – and Dubai Police did not respond to detailed questions.

The statement issued by UAE embassies further said that the country continues to pursue global criminals while working closely with international partners to disrupt and stop all forms of illicit finance.

“The UAE is committed to continuing these efforts and actions today more than ever and for a longer period,” it added.

The project – ‘Dubai Unlocked’ – is based on data that provides a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and information about their ownership or use, mainly from 2020 and 2022, revealed on Tuesday.

Properties purchased in the name of companies and those in commercial sectors are not part of this analysis.

More than a dozen retired military officers and their families as well as bankers and bureaucrats own properties in the high-rises of Dubai, according to data revealed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) Dubai Unlock Project.

The thousands of Pakistanis who own these properties include about a dozen retired army generals, two retired air vice marshals of the Pakistan Air Force, a serving Inspector General of Police (IGP), a retired chairman of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). ), former Chairman of the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL), and a serving Chairman of the Pakistan Science and Technology Council.