Building an illegal the weapons factory is expensive. When convicted torturer Ross Roggio built his factory in Iraqi Kurdistan and made weapons that ended up in the hands of militants, including Hamas, he needed millions of dollars. This money came from Zarya Faruk, the son of a Kurdish billionaire.
Roggio, whose case Rolling rock shrouded in depth, he is now in prison, but until recently, Farooq's whereabouts remained a mystery.
Farooq was allied with a powerful Kurdish politician in northern Iraq. When that man was expelled, the consequences hit Farooq as well. The illegal arms factory that Roggio and Farooq had set up was shut down.
Today, Faruk, who did not respond to a request for comment, is unwelcome in large parts of northern Iraq. There is a warrant for his arrest in Iraqi Kurdistan for abusing security companies, according to two Kurdish sources. And given Roggio's federal prosecution, US agents may also be interested in Faruk.
New evidence suggests that the life of the Kurdish arms magnate is not too harsh. After leaving Iraq, he apparently retreated to a luxury villa in Dubai, the Middle East's financial hub known as a playground for the world's wealthy. But the emirate also has a darker reputation as a tax haven, a destination for illicit cash and a hub for money laundering, often through real estate. It's also a good hideout for people like Faruk.
Dubai property records from Dubai unlocked project — which was acquired by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, and then shared with more than 70 media partners around the world, in coordination with Norway's E24 network and the Organized Reporting Project Crime and Corruption — shows Faruk acquired a house in Mohammed Bin Rashid City, an elite neighborhood named after the ruler of Dubai.
Faruk's new digs are known for their man-made lagoon and lush green space. In promotional material, the neighborhood is described as a city within a city, with every possible convenience easily accessible.
There are many shady characters hanging out in Dubai. The leaked data, which comes from Dubai's land department as well as public utilities, was reviewed by Rolling rockits partner in this project, the nonprofit Government Accountability Project. The data provides a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and information about their ownership or use, largely from 2020 and 2022. The data includes a significant number of people who have been charged or convicted of crimes, face international sanctions or they are politically exposed persons.
“The UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system extremely seriously,” a UAE official said in response to questions from the Dubai Unlocked coalition, adding: “In the continued pursuit of global criminals, the UAE works closely with international partners to disrupt and prevent all forms of illicit financing. The UAE is committed to continuing these efforts and actions more than ever today and in the long term.”
Evidence suggests that Asadullah Khalid, a former Afghan government official and accused war criminal, has apparently set up a home in Dubai. Khalid served in various roles in the US-backed Afghan government, including as head of the National Security Directorate, the country's intelligence agency.
Khalid was “known to have a dungeon in Ghazni,” said Richard Colvin, a Canadian diplomat. Canadian Parliamentary Committee in 2009. “He was known to be running a drug business. He had a criminal gang. He murdered people who got in his way.”
In Kandahar, where he served as governor, Khalid had a similar dungeon under his guesthouse. “He recognized that,” Colvin said. “He was known to personally torture people in that dungeon.”
For years Khalid, who previously claimed The charges against him were “propaganda,” the owner of a villa in Farook's neighborhood that he rented for tens of thousands of dollars each month, documents show.
Down the road from Khalid, on Palm Jumeirah, an artificial palm-shaped island off the Emirate's coast, there are several properties linked to Rami Makhlouf and his brother Ihab, the cousins of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. The Makhloufs, who are some of the richest and most powerful men in Syria, were established by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom for public corruption and abuse of power. (Ihab was sanctioned for helping his brother.)
In 2020, Rami Makhlouf recognizedon Facebook, avoiding Western sanctions on behalf of Syria.
Syrian media reported that Rami Makhlouf was put under a travel ban by the Syrian regime in 2020, but rental figures show he has made millions from renting out his properties.
The Makhloufs' Palm Jumeirah neighbors include the Uruguayan cartel leader Sebastian Marchet, who is wanted by authorities throughout South America for drug trafficking. Marset was accused by Colombia's president of arranging it murder of Marcelo Pecci, a prosecutor from Paraguay, while Pecci was on his honeymoon in Colombia.
Marset has denied complaints against him, while insulting South American police and prosecutors.
Another person found in the Dubai Unlocked data is Danilo Vunjão Santana Gouveia, a Brazilian sertanejo musician who goes by the name Danilo Dubaiano. Gouveia wanted in Brazil for allegedly running a major bitcoin Ponzi scheme.
Dubai also counts as a resident Jafar Dhia Jafar, who was Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons chief during the 1980s. Naing Htut Aung, a established businessman whom the US Treasury Department accuses of supplying weapons to Myanmar's junta army. and Lanfranco Cirillo, Putin's architect, who is wanted in Italy for alleged money laundering and tax evasion.
All Dubai property owners in history received detailed requests for comment from the consortium of organizations involved in the Dubai Unlocked project, but only Jafar responded. “I decided to invest in property in Dubai because I live in Dubai and the return on such investments is satisfactory,” he says.
But for many people in the data, including Faruk, Dubai can be attractive because it keeps them out of the reach of international law enforcement. “The UAE is a law enforcement black hole,” says Jodi Vittori, a professor at Georgetown University who studies corruption and illicit finance.
“If I said I wasn't afraid of extradition, I'd be lying,” Gouveia said in an interview with Globoin 2019. Five years later, however, he remains free.
Until recently, the UAE did not have extradition agreements with many countries, making it a destination for fugitives from around the world. But even with the conditions, the release is still difficult. “If the Emirates don't see any benefit from extradition, they won't hand over a wanted person,” says Rada Sterling, a lawyer and human rights activist who heads the legal aid group Detained in Dubai.
Roggio's arrest may have been a warning shot for Farooq — and it appears he took precautions to avoid the same fate.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dubai-unlocked-arms-dealers-drug-lords-torturers-property-1235020484/