Illicit funds generated by drug trafficking, war profiteering and other criminal activities are being used extensively to purchase properties in the UAE a new report alleges.

The report follows warnings from the US that trade-based financial crime in the emirate of Dubai’s gold and diamond sectors generates substantial illicit funds.

Leaked data

The report by the Washington-based Centre for Advanced Defence Studies, relies on leaked property data from the UAE and offers evidence apparently showing the channelling of illicit funds into the emirates’ real-estate sector.

Investigators reckon to have found around US$100 million in suspicious purchases of apartments and villas across the UAE.

Gold concerns

The report alleges that Dubai has a “high-end luxury real estate market and a lax regulatory environment prizing secrecy and anonymity above all else.”

Gold smuggling from Dubai to India in particular has posed a serious risk since the collapse of its lucrative pearl industry a century ago.