13 ms·

Dubai real estate data leak – Exposes criminals, officials, and politicians

210 points by punnerud 4y ago

DamnYuppie 4y ago
I am not really sure how this is news to anyone. The UAE is not aligned with the West and generally doesn't follow their sanctions. From that perspective why wouldn't they take the money?
- slater 4y ago
  Consequences.
  - vmception 4y ago
    Positive consequences. The entire concept of using public resources and burdonsome private sector regulations to whitelist transactions has always been shaky logic. The theatre has simply bought time on - or against - considering attempting other forms of compliance (war). But its always been bullshit and its always been an option to not play along with that, and do your own thing. UAE is doing their own thing. Its business as usual, lots of financial conferences, crypto parties, meeting and trade spot for people of all nationalities. Thats kind of one of my favorite things about travel, going somewhere where its not taboo to run into someone from a third country. I know a lot of people that have hung out in dubai over the last 2 months promoting whatever product or service, as if nothing else was going on in the world. Russian, America, EU citizen, Swiss, Ukrainian, Ukranian-American, Russian-America, people from other countries less involved in this conflict. Just business as usual. The weather is also pretty nice. Sometimes its useful to just shift your mental nexus. There is a version of the world where Dubai is (or remains) its own bubble while the rest of the world is shambling along with their unrelated conflicts. Like a future bubble city like in an Aldous Huxley novel or the Jetsons.
    - Cyph0n 4y ago
      > The weather is also pretty nice. As someone who lived there for quite a while: absolutely not.
      - rosndo 4y ago
        It’s not a place where you live all year round.
    - recuter 4y ago
      > Sometimes its useful to just shift your mental nexus. There is a version of the world where Dubai is (or remains) its own bubble while the rest of the world is shambling along with their unrelated conflicts. Like a future bubble city like in an Aldous Huxley novel or the Jetsons. Until the oil runs out or you get khashoggid.
    - Spooky23 4y ago
      Sounds more like something from a Hemingway novel or the Great Gatsby. Expats flitting about in their little fragile world. Unlikely to end well.
- csydas 4y ago
  I don't think it's being portrayed as news first, as it's just the first hard proof that a lot of these actors have investments and how they maintain their wealth and life styles despite the heavy scrutiny and weight of sanctions. Second, I think it actually __is news__ for a lot of people just how such person's store their wealth. The schemes available once you have a huge amount of money are nothing that most people can even consider as an option for a store of wealth, so it probably is a surprise for a lot of people that yes, once you have 6 figures to throw around, you can throw that money around pretty freely, and worse, regardless of what laws are created just to restrict you. For me I hope the take away is that sanctions aren't as much of a pressure they are made out to be and tend to harm the general populous of countries more than it does the actual actors targeted by the sanctions. Financially it does hit the actors of course, but you still have people with millions or more hidden away in places the sanctions cannot touch. It's a momentary hiccup at best in many cases and the actors continue to love lavish life styles with a nest egg to pull from that lasts decades without much of a change in life style. All while common people suffer with money and food shortages and wondering how they're going to make a living in the years to come. The argument might be to "rise up then!" But this is really not feasible as those in power take exceptional steps to make sure this cannot happen without an excessive bloodbath, and even with that it's not clear it will actually even help. As I see it, as long as such places like Dubai exist and Seve clients of all types, including those who aren't the target of sanctions, the situation cannot improve by sanctions alone. If hitting these actors where it counts also means that Senator Bob Everyperson gets too much attention to their financial investments, then these financial store methods are going to continue to aid such actors and will not be touched. I don't have an answer for how ti fix this since the world shouldn't bow to any single entity's rule; but hitting millions of innnocents who have no means to fight back or effectively change the systems they had the misfortune to be born into seems counterproductive and only strengthens the grip and popularity of these actors. Cutting off the people's access to free information only makes it worse, and limiting their ability to get fresh information makes it almost impossible to change public opinion of these actors. The end result is bad actors that don't suffer at all, look even better and more popular with their constituents, and millions suffer to get basic necessities or to secure a path to a better life. So yes, articles like this are important I think, as it shows that it's not so black and white as just apply sanction and make bad person suffer; they don't at all. A better method needs to be found.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Not sure what sanctions have to do with it. Maybe for the last month it's been challenging for Russians, but more world oligarchs launder money through US real estate than through UAE real estate.
- miohtama 4y ago
  The UAE is a military ally of the US, and now Israel, which is why they have get out of a jail for free card.
irrational 4y ago
My prediction is this will have just as much impact as the Panama Papers. Basically none.
- rmbyrro 4y ago
  Of course not. Whoever could cause an "impact" either: 1) Benefits from this; 2) Is very close to someone who benefits from this; 3) Has a glass-made roof and doesn't feel precisely confident in throwing rocks at other people's roofs.
- mistrial9 4y ago
  > Basically none ?? secretive, highly competitive and rivalrous insider rings and you saying flatly "no impact" makes it so? the only thing that did NOT happen was "no impact".. its not public information.. how could cascading side effects be seen or measured? absolutely need more sleuthing IMO and data dumps -- not by tax bureacrats -- here and elsewhere
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - jeffh 4y ago
    "tax bureaucrats" are what took down Al Capone. These days Al would have much better lawyers and layers of shell corporations in various tax havens. He would be untouchable merely because the effort to sleuth out the truth has become much harder. Laws and regulations subdue any advantages transparency tech could bring.
    - qsdf38100 4y ago
      Are we doomed then? Modern day All Capone´s are now richer than ever, above the laws, buying whole social networks, or becoming potus. Is there anything that can be done?
- room505 4y ago
  From what I recall after listening to a podcast (I don't remember which one) on foreign policy, it's said that Putin was extremely angry that it was leaked because it exposed his wealth. It's also said that the Panama Papers helped create sanctions against him.
asadlionpk 4y ago
I am hoping something like this leaks for UK. It's No. 1 destination for corrupt politicians to park their ill-earned money (atleast for Pakistani politicians).
- hnhg 4y ago
  And according to people who have first hand experience of it, Chinese and Russian corruption.
  - haidrali 4y ago
    The corruption Lord Nawaz Sharif is there in London, UK
arberx 4y ago
Serious question: what's the point of all these KYC/AML measures if they actually dont stop this stuff?
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
  To provide a paper trail that the state can use to nail your local off the books tire shop/daycare/alternative pharmacy/etc when they feel like it. Nets are for small fish.
- adra 4y ago
  You can maintain the stability of your own markets and economy while allowing rogue/grey markets to exist outside your sphere. If you do nothing at all, it's your home's that get horded by dirty people. It also encourages your own people to be bent. If we can cheat and live on with no consequences, then only fools and true believers will follow the rules. UAE, like a lot of places a willing blind eye to corruption and bad people because they're insulated from the traumas that were born from that dirty money. From a personal morality standpoint, I'm all about closing off the doors to profit from corruption and misery as much as possible. What's your moral stand on the matter?
vmception 4y ago
> These individuals’ presence in Dubai’s real estate market registries highlights the danger that the emirate’s loose residency requirements and «few questions asked» approach to regulation enables questionable figures to use it as a home away from home, a place to launder their illicit gains through real estate, or simply to store their wealth. I don't consider that controversial. > or simply to store their wealth. Especially this. "oOoOOoOooo soo scaary" I think the choice of words here will be seen as laughable and antiquated in the future. UAE/Dubai is on the front of this trend and it will pay off very well for them as they accelerate their diversification away from a fossil fuel economy. Other countries will simply have to find another way to get the behaviors they desire. Fingers crossed about the nukes staying siloed. But territories will shift, and that's not UAE or Dubai's problem, and when it becomes their problem, it won't be somewhere else's problem.
- bogota 4y ago
  I don’t understand what they expect Dubai to be doing around transactions. Their is only so much you can check when someone is buying a property and the money is being sent from abroad. I bought property recently in another (less expensive) place and they ask about where you work and so on but say I just have money saved up they really have nothing to check. Say im retired can i not buy something now? No that would be pretty stupid. Journalists these days are beyond stupid.
  - vmception 4y ago
    That highlights another point really well, the low-level financial worker's perception of "source of fund laws" (AML/KYC) is laughable, the reasoning they tell the investor/customer is laughably incorrect, just an ambiguous quip about "security purposes" or "making sure you aren't a drug dealer/terrorist/laundering money" when thats all incorrect. from the investor/customer and low-level banker's perspective, it is impossible to distinguish between the actual law, their private company's interpretation of that law, strictly separate company policy, their implementation of that combination of things, the flaws or merits of that implementation, the flaws and merits of the law. In this case, the person asking you actually doesn't care at all. Your role is to simple not say the bad word. A word you don't know. So you can always say pretty much anything, as long as its not "I'm on the OFAC list and I'm circumventing sanctions moving money from my heroin business". A US citizen, for example, would never have any restriction banking in the US due to prior conduct (unless you pissed off that sector due to a history of overdrafts, bounced checks, see chexsystems). Al Capone would always be able to open a bank account or brokerage account or buy property. The Patriot Act would have never flagged the Saudi terrorist wire transfers despite being passed under the guise of flagging that kind of thing. AML/KYC is just a data mining operation masqueraded as preventing ... something. Something thats not terribly expensive, especially when compared to the amount of money that isn't flagged. Turns out people just don't want to blow up planes and buildings. The only people convicted of violating capital controls are the poorest of the proletariat that has some ambiguous and wrong understanding about "moving $10,000", and gets thrown in prison for attempting to circumvent it simply because the law against circumventing the threshold is on the books, whether the threshold would have applied to how the money was moved or not! The entire thing is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer and public sector resources, and private sector compliance costs are probably overhanging a full digit % of the GDP growth. Its successfully stigmatized the concept of having money, from the very population that needs and strives to have it the most! While everyone that can afford education or legal help or a dynasty of passed on knowledge is operating with complete freedom.
turbinerneiter 4y ago
I pitty everyone who is trying to hide their wealth by buying real estate in Dubai. The biggest penalty we could impose on them is make them live there.
- Naomarik 4y ago
  There are loads of wealthy people living in Dubai without issues. Every country has its tradeoffs, but whenever I leave UAE I'm suddenly conscious about my wallet and dread using public bathrooms. It is what you make of it and there's a lot more here than the fake glamorous life everyone likes to moan about.
- devoutsalsa 4y ago
  Honest question. What do you not like about Dubai? Have you ever been there?
  - rosndo 4y ago
    It’s nice for a week or two, but gets boring pretty fast. You can only eat at L’Atelier so many times. But it’s surely better than almost every other city in the world.
    - mdp2021 4y ago
      > But it’s surely better than almost every other city in the world On which basis?
      - rosndo 4y ago
        Restaurants, flight connections, quality of services, friendly tax regime. Restaurants obviously being the most important metric. Sure, it’ll lose out to London, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Los Angeles, … But it won’t lose out to cities like Manchester or Liverpool.
        tclancy 4y ago
CommanderData 4y ago
I'm not surprised with the UAE. I'm more surprised this happens to a larger scale in London, illegal but sanctioned by our Conservative government. Politicians even providing the service to rich multi nationals.
aussiegreenie 4y ago
It is still easier to launder money through london.
seydor 4y ago
Relatively small potatoes
baby 4y ago
BTW I know people who have moved there to evade taxes. It looks like people in the mall will try to get you to buy a house in cryptocurrencies, advertising that they're not asking any questions. If I was a BTC millionaire it doesn't sound like a bad deal, no taxes, no questions, and you get a house. Well, you still have to live in Dubai.
- paxys 4y ago
  > Well, you still have to live in Dubai Not really, you just hold a property there and vacation a couple times a year.
  - baby 4y ago
    Yeah but what’s the point? I don’t think that’s even a good investment, and I don’t think it’s nice destination for holidays too lol.
- jacooper 4y ago
  Except that the UAE is an absolute Survailance state. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/11/us-intelligence-agents-helped-uae-build-secret-surveillance-unit/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/11/us-intelligence-ag... https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-health-ap-top-news-international-news-weekend-reads-e70e359d46391672a7a88f254cf9025b https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-health-ap-top-news...
kjhdfskjdsh 4y ago
This is a little off topic so I apologize, but might shine some perspective: I lived in Dubai and Sharjah (neighboring emirate) for almost 15 years during my childhood. This was in a time when UAE was not as glamorous as it is today. I am of Asian decent and basically had zero rights. I still remember the time when we were at the beach, a family friend was arrested for staring at the local emirati ladies (who were fully clothed in a burkha). During the time that I left (around 2000) Dubai had started to change, and was in a construction boom and had just launched the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). It was a month when all the retailers and shops would participate in a city wide discount program and slash 10-50% on prices. The whole city would also be covered in lights and fireworks every day. This is when Dubai started attracting a lot of investment. I admire the way the Sheikh of Dubai envisioned this, and basically built a metropolitan and business friendly city to overcome the reliance on oil earnings. But, under the surface the old regime still exists where minorities are mistreated and a blind eye is turned towards where the money is coming from. I see what's happening in Dubai as a natural progression when there is a lack of morality and humanity in society. You have to understand the roots of how these Sheikhs who were no better than local tribe leaders wandering the deserts who came upon riches (oil!) and quickly catapulted as head of states. It's going to be hard for them to regulate this behavior and knowingly or unknowingly participate in this.
mzs 4y ago
>Rich Russians consider London-Dubai property swap to avoid financial scrutiny >Prospective UAE buyers also being offered deep discounts on UK luxury homes https://www.ft.com/content/72549746-f46f-4b91-a588-576dd928e362 https://www.ft.com/content/72549746-f46f-4b91-a588-576dd928e...
hkt 4y ago
At this point, is anybody surprised that high end real estate is a crook's game? Whether it is London, Dubai, or anywhere else, the chronically dishonest gravitate towards effortless capital gains driven by financialisation and rent seeking. It is a pity so much cash is tied up in this stuff instead of being put to use in the real economy, or simply redistributed to those who need it. What a rotten world.
- qsdf38100 4y ago
  Too much people and too powerful people are benefiting from such a rotten world. Even if you somehow removed them, new people would replace them and apply the same rotten systems. The average human is not a good person. I like to think I ´d never oppress anyone, but I happen to behave like true a*hole from time to time. That said I dream of a better world but looking at current trends, it’s quite depressing. Looks like we’re going backwards faster than ever… And I feel powerless.
ChoGGi 4y ago
"Exposes criminals, criminals, and criminals."

210 points by punnerud 4y ago

I am not really sure how this is news to anyone. The UAE is not aligned with the West and generally doesn't follow their sanctions. From that perspective why wouldn't they take the money?

slater 4y ago
Consequences.
- vmception 4y ago
  Positive consequences. The entire concept of using public resources and burdonsome private sector regulations to whitelist transactions has always been shaky logic. The theatre has simply bought time on - or against - considering attempting other forms of compliance (war). But its always been bullshit and its always been an option to not play along with that, and do your own thing. UAE is doing their own thing. Its business as usual, lots of financial conferences, crypto parties, meeting and trade spot for people of all nationalities. Thats kind of one of my favorite things about travel, going somewhere where its not taboo to run into someone from a third country. I know a lot of people that have hung out in dubai over the last 2 months promoting whatever product or service, as if nothing else was going on in the world. Russian, America, EU citizen, Swiss, Ukrainian, Ukranian-American, Russian-America, people from other countries less involved in this conflict. Just business as usual. The weather is also pretty nice. Sometimes its useful to just shift your mental nexus. There is a version of the world where Dubai is (or remains) its own bubble while the rest of the world is shambling along with their unrelated conflicts. Like a future bubble city like in an Aldous Huxley novel or the Jetsons.
  - Cyph0n 4y ago
    > The weather is also pretty nice. As someone who lived there for quite a while: absolutely not.
    - rosndo 4y ago
      It’s not a place where you live all year round.
  - recuter 4y ago
    > Sometimes its useful to just shift your mental nexus. There is a version of the world where Dubai is (or remains) its own bubble while the rest of the world is shambling along with their unrelated conflicts. Like a future bubble city like in an Aldous Huxley novel or the Jetsons. Until the oil runs out or you get khashoggid.
  - Spooky23 4y ago
    Sounds more like something from a Hemingway novel or the Great Gatsby. Expats flitting about in their little fragile world. Unlikely to end well.
csydas 4y ago
I don't think it's being portrayed as news first, as it's just the first hard proof that a lot of these actors have investments and how they maintain their wealth and life styles despite the heavy scrutiny and weight of sanctions. Second, I think it actually __is news__ for a lot of people just how such person's store their wealth. The schemes available once you have a huge amount of money are nothing that most people can even consider as an option for a store of wealth, so it probably is a surprise for a lot of people that yes, once you have 6 figures to throw around, you can throw that money around pretty freely, and worse, regardless of what laws are created just to restrict you. For me I hope the take away is that sanctions aren't as much of a pressure they are made out to be and tend to harm the general populous of countries more than it does the actual actors targeted by the sanctions. Financially it does hit the actors of course, but you still have people with millions or more hidden away in places the sanctions cannot touch. It's a momentary hiccup at best in many cases and the actors continue to love lavish life styles with a nest egg to pull from that lasts decades without much of a change in life style. All while common people suffer with money and food shortages and wondering how they're going to make a living in the years to come. The argument might be to "rise up then!" But this is really not feasible as those in power take exceptional steps to make sure this cannot happen without an excessive bloodbath, and even with that it's not clear it will actually even help. As I see it, as long as such places like Dubai exist and Seve clients of all types, including those who aren't the target of sanctions, the situation cannot improve by sanctions alone. If hitting these actors where it counts also means that Senator Bob Everyperson gets too much attention to their financial investments, then these financial store methods are going to continue to aid such actors and will not be touched. I don't have an answer for how ti fix this since the world shouldn't bow to any single entity's rule; but hitting millions of innnocents who have no means to fight back or effectively change the systems they had the misfortune to be born into seems counterproductive and only strengthens the grip and popularity of these actors. Cutting off the people's access to free information only makes it worse, and limiting their ability to get fresh information makes it almost impossible to change public opinion of these actors. The end result is bad actors that don't suffer at all, look even better and more popular with their constituents, and millions suffer to get basic necessities or to secure a path to a better life. So yes, articles like this are important I think, as it shows that it's not so black and white as just apply sanction and make bad person suffer; they don't at all. A better method needs to be found.
pessimizer 4y ago
Not sure what sanctions have to do with it. Maybe for the last month it's been challenging for Russians, but more world oligarchs launder money through US real estate than through UAE real estate.
miohtama 4y ago
The UAE is a military ally of the US, and now Israel, which is why they have get out of a jail for free card.

irrational 4y ago

My prediction is this will have just as much impact as the Panama Papers. Basically none.

rmbyrro 4y ago
Of course not. Whoever could cause an "impact" either: 1) Benefits from this; 2) Is very close to someone who benefits from this; 3) Has a glass-made roof and doesn't feel precisely confident in throwing rocks at other people's roofs.
mistrial9 4y ago
> Basically none ?? secretive, highly competitive and rivalrous insider rings and you saying flatly "no impact" makes it so? the only thing that did NOT happen was "no impact".. its not public information.. how could cascading side effects be seen or measured? absolutely need more sleuthing IMO and data dumps -- not by tax bureacrats -- here and elsewhere
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- jeffh 4y ago
  "tax bureaucrats" are what took down Al Capone. These days Al would have much better lawyers and layers of shell corporations in various tax havens. He would be untouchable merely because the effort to sleuth out the truth has become much harder. Laws and regulations subdue any advantages transparency tech could bring.
  - qsdf38100 4y ago
    Are we doomed then? Modern day All Capone´s are now richer than ever, above the laws, buying whole social networks, or becoming potus. Is there anything that can be done?
room505 4y ago
From what I recall after listening to a podcast (I don't remember which one) on foreign policy, it's said that Putin was extremely angry that it was leaked because it exposed his wealth. It's also said that the Panama Papers helped create sanctions against him.

asadlionpk 4y ago

I am hoping something like this leaks for UK. It's No. 1 destination for corrupt politicians to park their ill-earned money (atleast for Pakistani politicians).

hnhg 4y ago
And according to people who have first hand experience of it, Chinese and Russian corruption.
- haidrali 4y ago
  The corruption Lord Nawaz Sharif is there in London, UK

arberx 4y ago

Serious question: what's the point of all these KYC/AML measures if they actually dont stop this stuff?

throwaway0a5e 4y ago
To provide a paper trail that the state can use to nail your local off the books tire shop/daycare/alternative pharmacy/etc when they feel like it. Nets are for small fish.
adra 4y ago
You can maintain the stability of your own markets and economy while allowing rogue/grey markets to exist outside your sphere. If you do nothing at all, it's your home's that get horded by dirty people. It also encourages your own people to be bent. If we can cheat and live on with no consequences, then only fools and true believers will follow the rules. UAE, like a lot of places a willing blind eye to corruption and bad people because they're insulated from the traumas that were born from that dirty money. From a personal morality standpoint, I'm all about closing off the doors to profit from corruption and misery as much as possible. What's your moral stand on the matter?

vmception 4y ago

> These individuals’ presence in Dubai’s real estate market registries highlights the danger that the emirate’s loose residency requirements and «few questions asked» approach to regulation enables questionable figures to use it as a home away from home, a place to launder their illicit gains through real estate, or simply to store their wealth. I don't consider that controversial. > or simply to store their wealth. Especially this. "oOoOOoOooo soo scaary" I think the choice of words here will be seen as laughable and antiquated in the future. UAE/Dubai is on the front of this trend and it will pay off very well for them as they accelerate their diversification away from a fossil fuel economy. Other countries will simply have to find another way to get the behaviors they desire. Fingers crossed about the nukes staying siloed. But territories will shift, and that's not UAE or Dubai's problem, and when it becomes their problem, it won't be somewhere else's problem.

bogota 4y ago
I don’t understand what they expect Dubai to be doing around transactions. Their is only so much you can check when someone is buying a property and the money is being sent from abroad. I bought property recently in another (less expensive) place and they ask about where you work and so on but say I just have money saved up they really have nothing to check. Say im retired can i not buy something now? No that would be pretty stupid. Journalists these days are beyond stupid.
- vmception 4y ago
  That highlights another point really well, the low-level financial worker's perception of "source of fund laws" (AML/KYC) is laughable, the reasoning they tell the investor/customer is laughably incorrect, just an ambiguous quip about "security purposes" or "making sure you aren't a drug dealer/terrorist/laundering money" when thats all incorrect. from the investor/customer and low-level banker's perspective, it is impossible to distinguish between the actual law, their private company's interpretation of that law, strictly separate company policy, their implementation of that combination of things, the flaws or merits of that implementation, the flaws and merits of the law. In this case, the person asking you actually doesn't care at all. Your role is to simple not say the bad word. A word you don't know. So you can always say pretty much anything, as long as its not "I'm on the OFAC list and I'm circumventing sanctions moving money from my heroin business". A US citizen, for example, would never have any restriction banking in the US due to prior conduct (unless you pissed off that sector due to a history of overdrafts, bounced checks, see chexsystems). Al Capone would always be able to open a bank account or brokerage account or buy property. The Patriot Act would have never flagged the Saudi terrorist wire transfers despite being passed under the guise of flagging that kind of thing. AML/KYC is just a data mining operation masqueraded as preventing ... something. Something thats not terribly expensive, especially when compared to the amount of money that isn't flagged. Turns out people just don't want to blow up planes and buildings. The only people convicted of violating capital controls are the poorest of the proletariat that has some ambiguous and wrong understanding about "moving $10,000", and gets thrown in prison for attempting to circumvent it simply because the law against circumventing the threshold is on the books, whether the threshold would have applied to how the money was moved or not! The entire thing is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer and public sector resources, and private sector compliance costs are probably overhanging a full digit % of the GDP growth. Its successfully stigmatized the concept of having money, from the very population that needs and strives to have it the most! While everyone that can afford education or legal help or a dynasty of passed on knowledge is operating with complete freedom.

turbinerneiter 4y ago

I pitty everyone who is trying to hide their wealth by buying real estate in Dubai. The biggest penalty we could impose on them is make them live there.

Naomarik 4y ago
There are loads of wealthy people living in Dubai without issues. Every country has its tradeoffs, but whenever I leave UAE I'm suddenly conscious about my wallet and dread using public bathrooms. It is what you make of it and there's a lot more here than the fake glamorous life everyone likes to moan about.
devoutsalsa 4y ago
Honest question. What do you not like about Dubai? Have you ever been there?
- rosndo 4y ago
  It’s nice for a week or two, but gets boring pretty fast. You can only eat at L’Atelier so many times. But it’s surely better than almost every other city in the world.
  - mdp2021 4y ago
    > But it’s surely better than almost every other city in the world On which basis?
    - rosndo 4y ago
      Restaurants, flight connections, quality of services, friendly tax regime. Restaurants obviously being the most important metric. Sure, it’ll lose out to London, Paris, Barcelona, New York, Los Angeles, … But it won’t lose out to cities like Manchester or Liverpool.
      - tclancy 4y ago

CommanderData 4y ago

I'm not surprised with the UAE. I'm more surprised this happens to a larger scale in London, illegal but sanctioned by our Conservative government. Politicians even providing the service to rich multi nationals.

aussiegreenie 4y ago

It is still easier to launder money through london.

seydor 4y ago

Relatively small potatoes

baby 4y ago

BTW I know people who have moved there to evade taxes. It looks like people in the mall will try to get you to buy a house in cryptocurrencies, advertising that they're not asking any questions. If I was a BTC millionaire it doesn't sound like a bad deal, no taxes, no questions, and you get a house. Well, you still have to live in Dubai.

paxys 4y ago
> Well, you still have to live in Dubai Not really, you just hold a property there and vacation a couple times a year.
- baby 4y ago
  Yeah but what’s the point? I don’t think that’s even a good investment, and I don’t think it’s nice destination for holidays too lol.
jacooper 4y ago
Except that the UAE is an absolute Survailance state. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/11/us-intelligence-agents-helped-uae-build-secret-surveillance-unit/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/11/us-intelligence-ag... https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-health-ap-top-news-international-news-weekend-reads-e70e359d46391672a7a88f254cf9025b https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-health-ap-top-news...

kjhdfskjdsh 4y ago

This is a little off topic so I apologize, but might shine some perspective: I lived in Dubai and Sharjah (neighboring emirate) for almost 15 years during my childhood. This was in a time when UAE was not as glamorous as it is today. I am of Asian decent and basically had zero rights. I still remember the time when we were at the beach, a family friend was arrested for staring at the local emirati ladies (who were fully clothed in a burkha). During the time that I left (around 2000) Dubai had started to change, and was in a construction boom and had just launched the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). It was a month when all the retailers and shops would participate in a city wide discount program and slash 10-50% on prices. The whole city would also be covered in lights and fireworks every day. This is when Dubai started attracting a lot of investment. I admire the way the Sheikh of Dubai envisioned this, and basically built a metropolitan and business friendly city to overcome the reliance on oil earnings. But, under the surface the old regime still exists where minorities are mistreated and a blind eye is turned towards where the money is coming from. I see what's happening in Dubai as a natural progression when there is a lack of morality and humanity in society. You have to understand the roots of how these Sheikhs who were no better than local tribe leaders wandering the deserts who came upon riches (oil!) and quickly catapulted as head of states. It's going to be hard for them to regulate this behavior and knowingly or unknowingly participate in this.

mzs 4y ago

>Rich Russians consider London-Dubai property swap to avoid financial scrutiny >Prospective UAE buyers also being offered deep discounts on UK luxury homes https://www.ft.com/content/72549746-f46f-4b91-a588-576dd928e362 https://www.ft.com/content/72549746-f46f-4b91-a588-576dd928e...

hkt 4y ago

At this point, is anybody surprised that high end real estate is a crook's game? Whether it is London, Dubai, or anywhere else, the chronically dishonest gravitate towards effortless capital gains driven by financialisation and rent seeking. It is a pity so much cash is tied up in this stuff instead of being put to use in the real economy, or simply redistributed to those who need it. What a rotten world.

qsdf38100 4y ago
Too much people and too powerful people are benefiting from such a rotten world. Even if you somehow removed them, new people would replace them and apply the same rotten systems. The average human is not a good person. I like to think I ´d never oppress anyone, but I happen to behave like true a*hole from time to time. That said I dream of a better world but looking at current trends, it’s quite depressing. Looks like we’re going backwards faster than ever… And I feel powerless.

ChoGGi 4y ago

"Exposes criminals, criminals, and criminals."