How Russian officials, deputies, oligarchs, and security chiefs buy up luxury real estate in Dubai, hiding millions and bypassing sanctions through relatives and offshore schemes

How Russian officials, deputies, oligarchs, and security chiefs buy up luxury real estate in Dubai, hiding millions and bypassing sanctions through relatives and offshore schemes

Dubai — the largest city in the United Arab Emirates — has in recent years become especially popular among members of Russia’s elite and criminal underworld.

It is one of the few foreign centers of wealth and luxury still accessible to them, where not too many questions are asked about the origin of money and reputation. Real estate in Dubai is purchased not only for residence but also for investment purposes, with bonuses including a residence visa (residence permit), the ability to open a bank account, and the almost complete opacity of this tax haven. Furthermore, it’s simpler to get there — Russians do not need a visa (it is issued directly at the airport). And the risks of property being taken away from some politically significant Russian figure due to sanctions are minimal: the UAE almost does not support these sanctions.

Tax haven expert James Henry compared the UAE to a bar on a remote planet from the movie «Star Wars»: «You walk in and see: on the right — kleptocrats, on the left — oligarchs, in the center — money ‘washers’, and in the background — dirty Russian raw materials traders using this place to circumvent sanctions. And everyone enjoys total financial secrecy».

But you can’t call Dubai a hole.

«According to a 2022 leak, by our estimates, foreigners owned 198,000 real estate properties in Dubai with a total value of over $90 billion», — says Andreas Okland, a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Economics and Business at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

Читайте по теме:Кадыров предлагает россиянам iPhone 17 в обмен на голосование за изображение «Грозный-Сити» на новых 500-рублевых купюрах

The opposition publication «Important Stories» participated in the global journalistic investigation «Dubai Unlocked», based on a new data leak about hundreds of thousands of Dubai real estate properties and their owners.

The new data was obtained by the American Center for Advanced Defense Studies (a non-profit organization C4ADS), which studies international crime and conflicts. The Center shared the information with the Norwegian business online publication E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which coordinated the work of more than 70 global media on this investigation.

Among the list of luxury Dubai real estate owners, journalists found interesting Russians: from officials and politicians to individuals involved in criminal cases.

Officials, their relatives, and close ones

In the center of the largest artificial island on earth, Palm Jumeirah, deposited in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai, is the luxury residential complex Marina Residences, approached by the sea on two sides. At the foot are podiums with blooming gardens and a harbor for hundreds of yachts, inside are pools, bars, restaurants, and fitness — everything for rest and entertainment. The apartments in Marina Residences have exquisite finishes: porcelain tiles, wooden floors, and natural stone. And on the balconies, you can enjoy a gentle sea breeze. According to the leak, two apartments in this complex were owned by the former son-in-law of the recently reappointed Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, businessman Alexander Udodov.

He was married to the Prime Minister’s sister Natalia Stenina, they married in 2008 and divorced in 2020. In Russia, the businessman transferred part of his property to Mishustin’s family. In Dubai, he did not do this. The value of his apartments here could be estimated at almost $2 million. The largest one — over 200 sq. m on the 13th floor of Marina Residences 3 — is estimated at approximately $1 million. Udodov kept it for himself (it was rented out to an Egyptian businessman), the other two — one in the same complex, another in Hercules Tower, further from the sea, — he sold no later than February last year. The previous leak about Dubai real estate only mentioned Udodov’s apartment in Marina Residences for $600,000.

Lenar Garipov

The First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Tatarstan Lenar Garipov and his brother Ilnar Garipov own hotel rooms and apartments in Dubai worth more than $2.7 million. Not bad against the backdrop of not the best state of agriculture in Tatarstan. Journalists could not find Dubai real estate in any of Deputy Minister Garipov’s available declarations. The brothers liked the TFG Marina Hotel — by the Dubai Marina, in the heart of popular pedestrian boulevards, filled with designer boutiques and numerous restaurants and cafes, and just a five-minute walk to sandy beaches. Private hotel room ownership — is a common form of investment in Dubai: the owner can live in the room for a few days a year, and the hotel manages it at other times, providing a certain income to the room’s owner.

In addition to rooms at the Marina Hotel, the brothers have studio apartments in the Sky Central skyscraper and The First Central hotel apartments complex, as well as two small apartments (about 35 sq. m each) in Grand Central near Dubai’s main highway, just ten minutes’ drive from the coast.

Читайте по теме:Тайные флотилии нефтетрейдера Романа Спиридонова

Lenar Garipov replied to our inquiry that his brother Ilnar handled the real estate, and he does not own any property. But the register disputes this.

Galas Taymaskhanov

The nephew of the head of the administration of Ramzan Kadyrov, Galas Taymaskhanov, Khas-Magomed Taymaskhanov, owns four apartments in Dubai worth over $6 million (purchased for $4.6 million). The Taymaskhanov clan is one of the closest to Ramzan Kadyrov, with members holding high posts in Chechnya since at least 2008. General Maskhud Taymaskhanov has for many years headed the RF Ministry of Justice’s department in the republic (previously heading the local Federal Drug Control Service).

Bekhan Taymaskhanov works as the Deputy Chairman of the Chechen Government. The head of the clan was considered to be Vakha Taymaskhanov, who, according to "Caucasus. Realities", lived and conducted business in the UAE. Khas-Magomed Taymaskhanov acquired Dubai apartments as early as 2013. Three of them are located in the Tiara Diamond North 4 residential complex on the artificial Palm Jumeirah island. The largest apartment — 222 sq. m, with three bedrooms — was purchased for $1.7 million (its current value is over $2 million).

The other two (for $1.5 million) are rented out. According to data on Dubai real estate and transactions obtained by E24 and OCCRP, this brings Taymaskhanov $80,000 a year. Another of his apartments — 155 sq. m, valued at over $1 million — is located on the 12th floor of the Tanzanite South 3 residential complex on the same Palm Jumeirah.

Whether it is rented or not is unknown. Taymaskhanov’s largest apartment was rented out in 2016 for about $40,000 a year.

United Russia Deputies, their relatives, and close ones

«An entirely new level of comfort and luxury» is promised by the website of the elite residential complex Serenia Residences, also located on Palm Jumeirah. The panoramic windows of the apartments in this complex offer views of one of Dubai’s most expensive neighborhoods or the Persian Gulf and the famous 800-meter Burj Khalifa skyscraper.

In March 2022, less than a month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an exclusive penthouse on the top, ninth floor of this complex was purchased by one of the richest members of the Russian State Duma, United Russia member and meat king Grigory Anikeev.

The penthouse, measuring 1,195 sq. m, cost him over $13 million. The leak data confirms the information of the late Alexei Navalny (about Dubai real estate owned by many deputies, including Anikeev, he reported in November 2023).

In 2020, it became known about the initiation of a criminal case regarding the delivery of expired artificial lung ventilation devices to a Vladimir hospital. The devices were purchased with funds from the "Mercy and Order" charity foundation established by Anikeev. Anikeev welcomed the initiation of the criminal case and hoped to be recognized as a victim.

Anikeev’s former wife, co-founder of the "Mercy and Order" foundation Olga Polyakova also acquired two apartments on Palm Jumeirah in April 2022 — in the exclusive premium-class residential complex The 8 with its own beach. The total value of these apartments is about $3 million. In 2016, together with Anikeev’s son Artem and her daughter Sofia Polyakova, Olga obtained Maltese citizenship.

Another partner of Anikeev — Irina Kuparyova (with whom he has a son Mark), obtained a Maltese passport back in 2015. In Dubai, in April 2022, she became the owner of an apartment over 140 sq. m at Serenia Residences.

Bekhan Agaev

A United Russia deputy from Chechnya, Z-patriot Bekhan Agaev, did not ignore Dubai real estate. Since February 2022, he has been under European Union sanctions. And more than ten years ago, he invested in 352 sq. m apartments in Kempinski Palm Residences — with a living room, terrace, and three bedrooms. «An oasis of calmness, complemented by three stunning bathrooms, — describes this real estate, the Kempinski website. — While a gentle breeze whispers stories of luxury and excess to you, enjoy a vacation that goes beyond the confines of mediocrity, where every moment is imbued with an undeniable sense of grandeur and sophistication». Initially, this real estate was registered under Agaev himself, but in recent years the apartment has been registered to the mother of his children, Malika Sadulaeva. Officially, Agaev and Sadulaeva are not married, allowing the deputy to avoid declaring the Dubai real estate. Currently, the apartments are rented out for almost $100,000 a year.

Heads of State Companies, their relatives and close ones

The deputy general director of the «Rosenergoatom» concern (part of the Rosatom state corporation), former governor of the Saratov region Pavel Ipatov, owns a villa in Dubai measuring 1,244 sq. m on Palm Jumeirah island, with an estimated value of $7 million. His wife Anastasia owns a villa on the same artificial island — valued at over $5 million (purchased for $2.3 million), and nearby, nine more apartments, mainly in the Emirates Crown Tower. These apartments are estimated at $12 million. The 63-story Emirates Crown tower is located in one of the most prestigious areas — Dubai Marina, a step away from the shoreline, artificial canals, and yacht moorings. On the daughter of the "Rosenergoatom" top manager was registered a villa on Palm Jumeirah with an area of 622 sq. m valued at over $5 million and an apartment over 200 sq. m in the Al Sultana complex with an approximate value of $1.3 million.

«Since March 2012, I have not been a public servant... Since July 2012, I have been working in a commercial organization "Rosenergoatom". Therefore I am not required to declare asset information, according to the law of the Russian Federation, — Ipatov told journalists. — My wife and daughter are entrepreneurs, I cannot comment on their activities. I have been officially married to Anastasia since 2015».

The Director of the Energy Department of «Rosneft» Vasily Nikonov in April 2023 was appointed head of the energy company «Unipro», after «Rosimushchestvo» received a temporary management package of this company’s shares, as stated — «in response to the actions of unfriendly states». Nikonov has at least three apartments in Dubai. One, with an area over 200 sq. m, — in the premium-class Balqis Residence complex, located on the western crescent of the island with a view of the Persian Gulf. Pools, landscaped gardens, private beach — all included. Modern elegance of living space, fabulous finish, greenery of the courtyard, the sea and beach take living here to the highest level, — realtors advertise the complex.

Two small studio apartments of Nikonov are more modest (48 sq. m each) and are located in Silverene Towers in Dubai Marina; both are now registered to Natalia Nikonova. The total value of the Nikonovs’ Dubai real estate is nearly $2 million.

Criminal Case Figures, Relatives and Close Ones

Heroes of well-known criminal cases and their close ones have acquired real estate in Dubai, however, some of them have already gotten rid of it.

For example, the wife of Russian criminal authority Zakhar Kalashov, known as Shakro-molodoy, Marina Goldberg owned an apartment over 600 sq. m and valued at about $5 million on the 34th floor of the famous Burj Khalifa skyscraper. However, she sold it no later than 2021. And the famous Anna Chapman — an agent of Russian intelligence exposed by the FBI in 2010 — owned small $600,000 apartments in the Marina Vista residential complex by the sea with a view of the marina in the Dubai Marina area. The former head of the economics safety and anti-corruption department of the Zelenograd police department, Lieutenant Colonel Vadim Bazarov, fled prosecution in a personal vehicle, managing to take cash and valuables from home, and in 2020 was declared wanted. He was suspected of extorting money from entrepreneurs by threatening business shutdown or complete destruction. A criminal case was initiated against the lieutenant colonel on charges of accepting a bribe of a particularly large amount.

The leak shows that Bazarov owns a villa and two apartments in Dubai. The lieutenant colonel’s villa measuring 644 sq. m, though not on an artificial island, is in the prestigious Jumeirah Village Circle area in the center of New Dubai. The apartments (119 and 77 sq. m) are located in premium residential complexes Shams 2 by the sea and Botanica Tower 1 in the Dubai Marina area with views of the same Palm Jumeirah. All of Bazarov’s Dubai real estate costs about $1.8 million at current prices.

«Corruptionists and politically exposed persons use closed jurisdictions like the UAE to hide assets from public scrutiny all in plain sight,» — reflects Maria Guiditta Borselli from C4ADS. Another expert from this non-profit organization, Deniza Springmont-Vazquez, adds, that such investigations show governments encouraging illegal activities that they need to increase transparency.

The Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS) is essentially the analytical center of the intelligence company Palantir.

So-called “publicly available information” (PAI) is aggregated into a protected non-classified US Army network (SUNet), using data fusion software from the infamous tracking technology company Palantir. The primary contractor for these projects is called ECS Federal, and they previously managed similar efforts in consolidating public information for the elite US Special Operations Command and its J2 intelligence directorate. Presumably, the special forces also regard internet monitoring as a useful component of situational awareness.

A whole industry of civil society organizations is involved in “laundering” intelligence operation results. Many frequently mentioned think tanks, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), have subcontracted with the US government alongside tracking location data brokers Venntel and X-Mode Social (now Outlogic). In the case of C4ADS, the subcontract was concluded with the closest CIA analogue – the US Department of Defense’s Intelligence. (Perhaps a hint should have been the C4ADS internal data analysis platform based on Palantir software). Since then, C4ADS has been frequently mentioned in both The New York Times and BuzzFeed News while analyzing US geostrategic competitors – C4ADS even participated in creating a Pulitzer Prize-winning series.