Dubbed as the “Dubai Leaks,” this project is based on information about properties, their ownership, and usage by hundreds of thousands of individuals in Dubai, with data primarily covering the period from 2020 to 2022. However, properties purchased under company names and those in commercial areas are not part of this report’s analysis.
Even bankers and bureaucrats own properties in Dubai.
Details about properties were obtained from an NGO Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, which shared information obtained through the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). They conducted a six-month investigative project identifying property owners. Reporters from 74 media organizations from 58 countries worked on the investigative project. Recently, several convicted criminals, fugitives, and political figures who bought properties in Dubai were identified through this investigative project. Pakistani news outlets Dawn and Dunya were partners in this project.
The list of individuals included President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari’s three children, Nawaz Sharif’s son Hussain Nawaz, the wife of Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, PPP leader Sharjeel Memon and his family, Senator Faisal Vawda, Farah Dogar, Sher Afzal Marwat, and four members of the National Assembly from Sindh, as well as six each from Sindh and Balochistan Provincial Assemblies. The list of Pakistanis also includes the late General (R) Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and over a dozen retired generals, a police chief, an ambassador, and a scientist. All these individuals either directly own properties in Dubai or have properties in the name of their children and partners.
The properties purchased by wives are properly declared, says Mohsin Naqvi.
Asif Ali Zardari received a property as a gift in Dubai in 2014. However, when he declared assets in 2018, he had already gifted this property to someone else. In the fake accounts case, Zardari’s partner accused Abdul Ghani Majeed had stated in 2014 that he had gifted a property worth Rs. 329 million to someone as a gift, but he did not disclose the nature of the property or the recipient’s name. However, in March 2014, the JIT revealed the purchase of a penthouse in Dubai. However, the property leaks data has revealed that the aforementioned property was gifted by Abdul Ghani Majeed to Asif Zardari, who then gifted it to his daughter.
In a groundbreaking investigative journalism endeavor known as the Dubai Property Leaks, nearly $40 billion worth of properties owned by non-residents, including Pakistanis, has been unveiled. Collaborating across 74 media organizations from 58 countries, this project sheds light on elite property ownership in Dubai, revealing politicians, sanctioned individuals, money launderers, and criminals among the owners. Pakistanis, with properties valued at up to $11 billion, rank prominently in this revelation.
The Dubai Property Leaks project, based on data primarily from 2020 to 2022, exposes property ownership details of hundreds of thousands of individuals in Dubai. Notably, properties owned by companies and those in commercial areas are excluded from the analysis.
Key figures, including Asif Ali Zardari’s children, Hussain Nawaz, the late General Pervez Musharraf, and others, are identified as property owners in Dubai. However, many individuals, including Omni Group’s CFO Aslam Masood and Saharab Densha, remain unresponsive despite being sent questionnaires.
Additionally, Altaf Khanani’s network, involved in money laundering and facing US restrictions, is implicated, along with Dr. Hameed Mukhtar Shah, a sanctioned figure in Rawalpindi.
Despite previous declarations, Mohsin Naqvi’s wife’s ownership of Dubai property was not disclosed in her Senate nomination papers.
Pakistani citizens rank second as buyers of properties in Dubai, with 17,000 citizens owning 23,000 properties, collectively valued at $11 billion.
The Dubai Property Leaks dataset includes detailed information about property owners, sourced from various channels including NGO Center for Advanced Defense Studies and the Dubai Land Registry. Efforts were made to independently verify the identities of individuals included in the dataset.
This comprehensive investigation underscores the significance of the Dubai Property Leaks in uncovering undisclosed property ownership and its implications for global transparency.
