The prominent part being played by the United Arab Emirates in global money-laundering operations perpetrated by corrupt people have been reported by Al Jazeera. UAE scores 86 in terms of financial secrecy and groups like Transparency International, an anti-corruption advocacy group also pointed to the problematic nature of the UAE non-existent relations. Approximately 17,000 bank transactions occurred in UAE including 554 from the UK. The Emirati economy encourages black money movement because of its virtual tax-free structure. Ten people got arrested in November on the accusation of being part of an organized crime group carrying almost $20 million hidden in suitcases from Britain to Dubai.
A report by Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies showed how houses and villas across Dubai were purchased with about $100 million, a situation that has global security implications far beyond the sands of the UAE. The report indicted the Dubai’s real estate market as a medium for money laundering, terror financing and drug trafficking. Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the Syrian regime leader Bashar Al Assad and other political opponents of the UAE have been identified as people who have bought properties in Dubai as people are buying real estate in archipelago of Palm Jumeirah. In 2018, the United Nations estimated that money laundering could hit up 5% of global GDP or $4 trillion a year. This estimation was around $1.6 trillion which corresponds with 2.7% of the global GDP in 2009.
