UAE Pandora Scandal: Another Corrupt Act of the Emirates

A wealthy nation open for all the elites in the world, the United Arab Emirates is less known as a hub of illicit financial dealings. The country is a magnet to the foreign businessmen, real estate dealers, and investors. However, the internal administrative loopholes of the Emirates have remained under covers, for years.

Multiple reports have often revealed how most of the corrupt financial flows touch the UAE. Besides, a number of criminal actors across the world operate through or from the Arab nation. Respecting its deep-rooted mannerism of monetary frauds, the Emirates was featured in another biggest global scandal files, recently.

An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and a team of 150 media houses revealed the link of over 330 high-ranking politicians and public officials with the offshore companies, globally. Based on 11.9 million leaked files, the report highlighted the extent to which the global finance politics is entangled with secretive offshore accounts.

Known as the Pandora Papers, the files revealed that the Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum used three secretive offshore firms to increase his wealth. Besides, he owns a range of upmarket and luxury real estate around Europe, which have been acquired using offshore entities registered in tax havens.

Sheikh Mohammed is a billionaire businessman, who is largely known for the alleged abduction and arbitrary detention of his two daughters, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed and Sheikha Shamsa bint Mohammed. Besides, he also made headlines for the ongoing court hearing in the UK with his wife, Princess Haya bint Hussein.

The ICIJ report revealed that three companies were secretly registered in the tax havens of the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) by the Dubai ruler to carry out his dealings. These firms were registered by Axiom Limited, an Emirati firm partly owned by Dubai Holding, in which Sheikh Mohammed owns large shares.

Axiom Limited used the three companies –  Tandem Investco Limited and Tandem DirectorCo Limited in BVI, as well as Allied International Investments Limited in the Bahamas – to “expand its core business”.

The UAE’s mention in the Pandora Papers is just another example of the country’s problematic behaviours and lacking enforcement practices. The Arab nation has been involved in a number of such controversies, which represents its nature of being the global ideal destination for dirty money.