Which of the officials, deputies, heads of state-owned companies and Russians associated with crime purchased real estate in Dubai

There is no issuance from Dubai

Dubai is the largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and in recent years it has been especially popular with representatives of the Russian government and criminals. This is one of the few foreign centers of wealth and luxury still accessible to them, where they do not ask too many questions about the origin of money and the characteristics of reputation. Real estate in Dubai is bought not only for living, but also for investment purposes, and bonuses include a resident visa (residence permit), the opportunity to open a bank account and the almost complete opacity of this tax paradise. In addition, it is easier to get there – Russians do not need a visa (they issue one right at the airport). And the risks that the property of any Russian politically exposed person will be taken away due to sanctions are small: the UAE almost does not support these sanctions.

Tax haven expert James Henry compared the UAE to a bar on a backwater planet from the movie Star Wars: “You walk in and see: on the right – kleptocrats, on the left – oligarchs, in the center – money launderers, and in the background – dirty traders of Russian raw materials who use this place to get around sanctions. And everyone is subject to complete financial closure.”

But you can’t call Dubai a remote planet.

“According to the 2022 leak, we estimate that foreigners owned 198,000 properties in Dubai with a total value of more than $90 billion,” says Andreas Åkland, a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Economics and Business at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

“Important Stories” took part in a global journalistic investigation “Dubai Revealed” (Dubai Unlocked), based on another data leak about hundreds of thousands of Dubai real estate properties and their owners. This is not the first time we have conducted such an investigation; the previous one can be read here.

New data was obtained by the American Center for Advanced Defense Studies (non-profit organization C4ADS), which studies international crime and conflict. The center shared information with the Norwegian online business publication E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which coordinated the work of more than 70 global media outlets on this investigation.

In the list of owners of luxury Dubai real estate, “Important Stories” found interesting Russians: from officials and politicians to persons involved in criminal cases.

Officials, their relatives and friends

In the center of the largest artificial island on earth, Palm Jumeirah, built in the Persian Gulf near the Dubai coast, there is a luxury residential complex Marina Residences, which is approached by the sea on both sides. At the foot there are podiums with flowering gardens and a harbor for hundreds of yachts, inside there are swimming pools, bars, restaurants and fitness – everything for relaxation and entertainment. Marina Residences apartments feature exquisite finishes including porcelain tiles, wood floors and natural stone. And on the balconies you can enjoy the light sea breeze. According to the leak, two apartments in this complex were owned by the former son-in-law of the recently reappointed Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustinentrepreneur Alexander Udodov. He was the husband of the prime minister’s sister Natalia Stenina, they got married in 2008 and separated in 2020. In Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), a businessman donated part of his property to Mishustin’s family. He didn’t do this in Dubai. The cost of his apartments here could be estimated at almost $2 million. The largest of them is over 200 square meters. m on the 13th floor of Marina Residences 3 – estimated at approximately $1 million. Udodov kept it for himself (it was rented out to an Egyptian businessman), he sold the other two – one in the same complex, the other in Hercules Tower, away from the sea – no later than February last year. In the previous data leak about Dubai real estate, there was information only about Udodov’s apartments in Marina Residences for $600 thousand.

Lenar Garipov

At the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Lenara Garipova and his brother Ilnara in Dubai, own hotel rooms and apartments worth more than $2.7 million. Not bad against the backdrop of the not-so-best state of affairs in Tatarstan’s agriculture. We were not able to find real estate in Dubai in any of the available declarations of Deputy Minister Garipov. The brothers liked the TFG Marina Hotel – near the Dubai harbor, in the center of popular pedestrian boulevards, where branded designer boutiques and numerous restaurants and cafes are located, and only five minutes walk to the sandy beaches minutes. Private ownership of a hotel room is a common form of investment in Dubai: the owner can live in the room for several days a year, and the rest of the time it is managed by the hotel, bringing a certain income to the owner of the room.

In addition to rooms at the Marina Hotel, the brothers have studio rooms in the Sky Central skyscraper and in The First Central hotel apartment complex, as well as two small apartments (about 35 sq. m each) in Grand Central on the main road of Dubai, a ten-minute drive from coast.

Lenar Garipov responded to our request that his brother Ilnar was involved in real estate, but he did not own any real estate. But the registry denies this.

Galas Taimashanov

Nephew of the head of administration Ramzan Kadyrov Galas Taymaskhanov, Khas-Magomed Taymaskhanov, owns four apartments in Dubai with a total value of more than $6 million (bought for $4.6 million). The Taimaskhanov clan is one of the closest to Ramzan Kadyrov; representatives of the clan have held high positions in Chechnya since at least 2008. General Maskhud Taimashanov For many years he has headed the department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) in the republic (previously he was the head of the local Federal Drug Control Service), Bekhan Taimakhanov works as deputy chairman of the government of Chechnya. The head of the clan was considered Vakha Taimakhanov, which, according to “Caucasus. Realii”, lived and did business in the UAE. Khas-Magomed Taimaskhanov acquired Dubai apartments back in 2013. Three of them are located in the Tiara Diamond North 4 residential complex on the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah. The largest apartment is 222 square meters. m, with three bedrooms – was bought for 1.7 million dollars (its current value is more than 2 million). The other two (1.5 million each) are for rent. According to Dubai real estate and transaction data obtained by E24 and OCCRP, this brings Taimaskhanov $80,000 a year. Another of his apartments is 155 sq. m, cost more than 1 million – located on the 12th floor of the Tanzanite South 3 residential complex on the same Palm Jumeirah.

Whether she gives up is unknown. Taimaskhanov’s largest apartment was rented out in 2016 for about $40,000 a year.

United Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) deputies, their relatives and friends

“A whole new level of comfort and luxury” promises the site of the elite residential complex Serenia Residences, also located on Palm Jumeirah. The panoramic windows of the apartments in this complex offer views of one of the most expensive areas of Dubai or the Persian Gulf and the famous 800-meter Burj Khalifa skyscraper. In March 2022, less than a month after the SVO of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) in Ukraine, an exclusive penthouse on the last, ninth floor of this complex was bought by one of the richest deputies of the Russian State Duma, a member of United Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) and the meat king Grigory Anikeev. Penthouse with an area of ​​1195 sq. m he got for more than 13 million dollars. These leaks confirm the information of Alexei Navalny (he reported about the Dubai real estate of many deputies, including Anikeev, in November 2023).

In 2020, it became known that a criminal case had been initiated regarding the supply of expired ventilators to a Vladimir hospital. The devices were purchased with money from the charity foundation “Mercy and Order” founded by Anikeev. Anikeev himself welcomed the initiation of a criminal case and hoped that he would be recognized as a victim.

Anikeev’s ex-wife, co-founder of the Mercy and Order Foundation Olga Polyakova in April 2022, she also acquired two apartments on the island of Palm Jumeirah – in the exclusive premium residential complex The 8 with its own beach. The total cost of these apartments is about $3 million. In 2016, together with Anikeev’s son, Artem, and her daughter Sofia Polyakova, Olga received Maltese citizenship.

Another partner of Anikeev – Irina Kupareva (they have a son, Mark), received a Maltese passport back in 2015. And in Dubai in April 2022, she found herself the owner of an apartment with an area of ​​more than 140 square meters. m in Serenia Residences.

Bekhan Agayev

United Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) member from Chechnya, Z-patriot Bekhan Agayev, also did not pass by the Dubai real estate. Since February 2022, he has been under EU sanctions. And more than ten years ago, he managed to invest in a 352-meter apartment in Kempinski Palm Residences – with a living room, a terrace and three bedrooms. “An oasis of tranquility, complemented by three delightful bathrooms,” Kempinski’s website describes the property. “As the gentle breeze whispers tales of luxury and excess, experience a holiday beyond the ordinary, where every moment is imbued with an undeniable sense of grandeur and sophistication.” At first, Agayev himself was listed as the owner of this property, but in recent years the apartment has been registered in the name of the mother of his children, Malika Sadulaeva. Officially, Agayev and Sadulaeva are not married, which allowed the deputy to do without declaring his Dubai real estate. Now the apartments are rented for almost 100 thousand dollars a year.

Heads of state-owned companies, their relatives and friends

Deputy General Director of the Rosenergoatom concern (part of the Rosatom state corporation), former governor of the Saratov region Pavel Ipatov, owns a 1244 sq. m. villa in Dubai. m on the island of Palm Jumeirah with an approximate cost of $7 million. His wife Anastasia has a villa on the same artificial island worth more than $5 million (bought for 2.3 million), and there are nine more apartments nearby, mostly in the Emirates Crown Tower. These apartments are valued at $12 million. The 63-storey Emirates Crown tower is located in one of the most prestigious areas – Dubai Marina, a step away from the sea coast, artificial canals and yacht berths. A villa on Palm Jumeirah with an area of ​​622 square meters was registered in the name of the daughter of a top manager of Rosenergoatom. m and worth more than $5 million (it was sold in March last year) and an apartment of more than 200 sq. m. m in the Al Sultana complex with an approximate cost of 1.3 million dollars.

“Since March 2012, I have not been a government employee… Since July 2012, I have been working for the commercial organization Rosenergoatom. In this regard, he is not obliged to declare information about property, according to the law of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country),” Ipatov responded to OCCRP. — My wife and daughter are entrepreneurs, I cannot comment on their activities. I have been officially married to Anastasia since 2015.”

The director of the energy department of Rosneft, Vasily Nikonov, was appointed head of the energy company Unipro in April 2023, after Rosimushchestvo received temporary management of a stake in this company, as it was said, “as a response to the actions of unfriendly states.” . Nikonov has at least three apartments in Dubai. One, with an area of ​​more than 200 sq. m, – in the premium complex Balq Residence, located on the western crescent of the island overlooking the Persian Gulf. Swimming pools, landscaped gardens, private beach – all included. The modern elegance of the living space, fabulous decoration, the greenery of the courtyard, the sea and the beach take life here to the highest level, realtors advertise the complex.

Nikonov’s two small, more modest studio apartments (48 sq. m each) are located in Silverene Towers in Dubai Marina, both are now registered to Natalya Nikonova. The total cost of the Nikonovs’ Dubai real estate is almost $2 million.

Persons involved in criminal cases, relatives and friends

The heroes of famous criminal cases and their relatives have acquired real estate in Dubai, although some of them have already managed to get rid of it.

So, the wife of a Russian crime boss Zakharia Kalashovaknown as Shakro-young, Marina Goldberg owned an apartment with an area of ​​over 600 square meters. m and cost about $5 million on the 34th floor of the famous Burj Khalifa skyscraper. But she sold it no later than 2021. And the famous Anna Chapman – an agent of Russian intelligence who was exposed by the FBI in 2010 – owned a small apartment worth $600 thousand in Marina Vta – a residential complex by the sea overlooking the marina in the Dubai Marina area. Former head of the department for economic security and anti-corruption of the Zelenograd Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Bazarov escaped from the investigation in his personal Gelendvagen, having managed to take cash and jewelry from his house, and was put on the wanted list in 2020. He was suspected of taking money from entrepreneurs, threatening to stop or completely destroy the business. A criminal case was opened against the lieutenant colonel under the article of receiving a bribe on an especially large scale.

The leak shows that Bazarov owns a villa and two apartments in Dubai. Lieutenant Colonel’s Villa with an area of ​​644 sq. m, although not on an artificial island, but in the prestigious Jumeirah Village Circle in the center of New Dubai. And the apartments (119 and 77 sq. m.) are in the premium residential complexes Shams 2 on the seashore and Botanica Tower 1 in Dubai Marina, overlooking the same Palm Jumeirah. All of Bazarov’s Dubai real estate at current prices costs about $1.8 million.

“Corrupt officials and politically exposed persons, avoiding public scrutiny, use closed jurisdictions such as the UAE to hide assets in plain sight,” – says Maria Guiditta Borselli from C4ADS. Another expert at the nonprofit, Denise Sprimont-Vasquez, adds that such investigations show governments that encourage illegal activity that they need to increase transparency.

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) is the de facto think tank of the intelligence company Palantir.

So-called “publicly available information” (PAI) is aggregated on the US Army’s Secure Unclassified Network (SUNet), with heavy use of data fusion software from the notorious surveillance technology company Palantir. The main contractor for these projects is called ECS Federal, and previously led a similar public information consolidation effort for the elite U.S. Special Operations Command and its J2 intelligence agency. Presumably, commandos also consider Internet surveillance a useful component of their situational awareness.

An entire industry of civil society organizations is involved in laundering the results of intelligence operations. Many oft-cited research institutes, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), worked under subcontracts with the US government along with location tracking data brokers Venntel and X-Mode Social (now Outlogic). In the case of C4ADS, the subcontract was awarded to the CIA’s closest equivalent, the Defense Intelligence Agency. (Perhaps the internal data analytics platform C4ADS, built on Palantir software, should have been a clue.) Since then, C4ADS has been regularly featured in both The New York Times and BuzzFeed News when analyzing U.S. geostrategic competitors—C4ADS even contributed to a Pulitzer Prize-winning series.