"Dubai Unlocked" controlled by sanctioned Hezbollah-affiliated businessmen

In the context of the “Dubai Unlocked” project, which was carried out in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), our investigation into Dubai real estate data and documents revealed properties belonging to individuals associated with Hezbollah and listed on US sanctions lists.

This raises many questions about the UAE’s due diligence process and Dubai authorities’ compliance with international sanctions lists, especially given the tense relations between the parties.

The Rewards for Justice program, affiliated with the US Department of State, is reportedly offering 10 million US dollars for information on Adham Tabaja, one of the financiers of the Lebanese party Hezbollah. Given the amount allocated, one would expect finding any trace of the man to be extremely difficult, if not almost impossible. However, we were surprised to find that locating properties under his name in Dubai was easier than expected! Furthermore, there are businessmen affiliated with Hezbollah and the Syrian regime who own luxurious properties in Burj Khalifa, Jumeirah Palm, Dubai Marina, and other areas.

In the context of the “Dubai Unlocked” project in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and during our research into Dubai real estate data and documents, we found that Tabaja and others like him, who are subject to US sanctions, own properties in Dubai.

“Dubai Unlocked” is a cross-border investigative project led by the OCCRP and the Norwegian financial news site E24, with the participation of 72 journalistic platforms from 58 countries around the world, including Daraj and its Syrian investigative journalism partner, SIRAJ. The project includes leaked documents revealing information about hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and their ownership, specifically between 2020 and 2022. The data was obtained from the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), which researches international crimes and conflicts, and shared with OCCRP and E24.

The project’s data, part of a series of leaks totaling over 100 datasets, mostly come from the Dubai Land Department and state-owned real estate companies, and include the listed owner’s name for each property, along with other identifying information.

Over several months, participating journalists in this project used the documents as a starting point to discover the foreign real estate ownership scene in Dubai and to verify the identities of names and figures in the data, specifically those listed on international sanctions lists or classified as politically exposed persons (PEPs).

Adham Hussein Tabaja is on the US sanctions list as one of Hezbollah’s financiers, but he is not the only one. The investigative team found several businessmen affiliated with Hezbollah who own properties in Dubai, including:

– Ali Raouf Osseiran: a businessman who managed three Dubai-based companies and is linked to Nazem Said Ahmed, an art dealer on the sanctions list for financing Hezbollah.

– Ali Reda al-Banai: classified as a “global terrorist” for supporting Hezbollah, along with his brother.

– Bassem Hussein Murad: a Belgian citizen linked to Hezbollah through his ownership and control of various companies involved in the diamond trade, according to sanctions against him.

– Mohamed Bazzi: a Lebanese-Belgian citizen and Lebanese diplomat who has been sanctioned since 2019 for “providing millions of dollars to Hizballah.” He was arrested in Romania in February 2023 and extradited to the United States in April 2023.

Who are these people? And why have they made Dubai their haven, despite the tense relations between the United Arab Emirates and Hezbollah? The most important question remains: What due diligence process does Dubai adopt that allows individuals listed on the sanctions list to invest there, and opens doors and opportunities for them to launder money?

The number of Lebanese owners in the 2022 leaks list is 3,800 owners who invested their money in 4,396 properties in Dubai worth approximately $2.2 billion USD.

Why has Dubai become a safe haven for Hezbollah financiers?

What is certain from the project documents is that up until 2022, Tabaja and other businessmen associated with Hezbollah and listed on the US sanctions list were among the property owners in Dubai. It is surprising that Hezbollah itself is classified as a terrorist group in the UAE as well, not just in the United States!

It must be noted that the United States of America classified “Hezbollah” as a foreign terrorist organization on October 8, 1997, and as a specially designated global terrorist organization on October 31, 2001. The Gulf Cooperation Council also classified it as a terrorist organization on March 2, 2016, but this classification did not affect the member states’ relationship with the successive Lebanese governments, in which Hezbollah was a participant in most.

It is worth noting that owning properties in Dubai is not illegal, but the presence of figures listed on the sanctions list and linked to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime (as revealed in another investigation in the context of this project) raises serious questions about Dubai’s compliance with international sanctions regulations. It also raises even bigger questions about its apparent political stances toward these parties.

Within this context, Karam Shaar, the Syria Program Manager at the Observatory of Political and Economic Networks, tells Daraj and SIRAJ in an interview that “the UAE in general, and Dubai specifically, have a competitive tendency to facilitate business operations. There is something called the Ease of Doing Business Index, in which many countries compete. The index has pros and cons: The pros are that it actually attracts investment environments, while the cons appear in the standards and mechanisms regulating work, such as combating cybercrime, global corruption, sanctions evasion, or combating global terrorism, where they are more relaxed than they should be.”

Haid Haid, a senior researcher at the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs in the United Kingdom, reveals in an interview with the investigative team that “Dubai has historically been a safe place for investments and real estate purchases for businessmen associated with the Syrian regime and Hezbollah, and it had two main goals. The first goal is money laundering, as owners of illegal funds try to hide their sources by buying and selling real estate repeatedly, making it difficult to trace the origins of these funds that turn into luxurious properties that appear clean. The second goal is real estate investment, as buying real estate is considered a successful investment in the Arab region.”

“The UAE is known as a partially tax-free haven, where money laundering can easily take place through buying luxurious real estate,” says Joseph Daher, professor at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and author of the book “Hezbollah: The Political Economy of Lebanon’s Party of God” (2022), in an interview with the investigative team.

As for the trend towards real estate investment, Shaar says: “Investing in real estate is more secure than any other investment,” meaning that “the risk level in real estate is lower than the risk level in other investments.” He adds a key point, which is that “the legal pursuit of investors in case their funding sources are illegal is almost non-existent,” pointing out the “tense relationship between the UAE and the US Treasury,” while confirming at the same time that “the priority for the UAE is investments and business.”

In recent years, Emirati authorities have tightened regulations related to combating money laundering, especially after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international governmental organization for monitoring money laundering, added the UAE to its “gray list” in 2022 for failing to effectively combat illicit money flows. After efforts to remove its name from the list, UAE authorities received good news in February, as “FATF praised the UAE for its significant progress” and removed it from the enhanced verification, according to the OCCRP investigation within the project’s context.

Within this context, the Emirati Embassy in the UK tells The Times, a partner in the project that “the UAE takes its role in protecting the integrity of the global financial system very seriously, and in February, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setting body for anti-money laundering measures, praised the UAE for its significant progress and continued efforts to prosecute global criminals. The UAE is committed to continuing these efforts and measures today and in the long-term future, more than ever before.”

The UAE-Hezbollah Relationship

The UAE’s relationship with Hezbollah is characterized by complexity and changes over the years. After relations were strained for years, the UAE classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and expelled many Lebanese Shiite nationals from Dubai under the pretext of their proximity to or affiliation with the party, and imprisoned many of them on charges of espionage for the party, we were recently surprised by a visit of the head of Hezbollah’s Liaison and Coordination Unit Wafik Safa to the UAE on a private Emirati plane in March 2024, to discuss and debate the issue of detained Lebanese individuals in the UAE on charges of espionage for the party, and to work on returning them to Lebanon.

A source familiar with the file confirmed to Daraj that “the visit was secret and was based on positive indications. However, the leak of the visit to the media without the knowledge of Hezbollah led to the suspension of negotiations, especially since the UAE’s condition was no leaks to avoid embarrassment with the United States and others. The goal of the visit was positive, as it was possible for pardons or release of detainees to take place as well. Despite such aspirations for that, the media leak prevented the completion of the project in the appropriate manner. However, it served two functions: firstly, it prevented Hezbollah from achieving such an accomplishment and thus changing the sentences of the detainees and issuing pardons. Secondly, it harmed the UAE and constituted a source of pressure on it.”

The source indicated that “communication between the two sides has not been cut off, and that Hezbollah does not directly have any relationship with the UAE, is not directly targeting it, nor does it seek to undermine its security or interfere in its security and internal affairs,” asking “whether the UAE took these steps without the knowledge of the Americans.”

Daher believes that “the declared purpose of the visit was to follow up on the situation of seven detained Lebanese individuals in the UAE, but there may have been other issues raised, for example, potential investments by the UAE in Lebanon after the current war on Gaza. Nevertheless, it is still too early to judge the full repercussions of this visit, except that it constitutes an official recognition by the UAE of the importance of Hezbollah and its seeking dialogue with this party.”

There is no doubt that the Israeli war on Gaza and the UAE’s position on it have a significant impact on the UAE’s relationship with Hezbollah, especially since the UAE signed a peace agreement with Israel in 2020, and Hezbollah has had hostile positions towards the UAE in recent years, expressed by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on several occasions, for example:

On August 14, 2020, Nasrallah spoke about “the intention of the UAE to normalize with Israel,” saying: “Some Arab regimes are servants of the American administration” and considered them “American tools in the region… What the UAE has done is a betrayal of Islam, Arabism, the nation, and the sanctities… This is a treacherous step and a stab in the back.”

In February 2022, Nasrallah said: “The UAE is a glass state and [made up of] glass cities, so why is it involving itself in a war of this kind,” speaking about “the weakness and collapse of the UAE” and sarcastically saying: “What protects the UAE is its withdrawal from the war on Yemen, and not interfering in the internal affairs of other Arab countries.”

The most prominent turning point in the relationship was Safa’s visit to the UAE, as “Safa’s recent visit to the UAE is an important development. It is the first public visit by a Hezbollah member to a Gulf state, indicating a potential shift in dynamics. This move reflects the UAE’s practical approach, following in the footsteps of the Iranian-Saudi rapprochement, which seeks to enhance the Gulf’s diplomatic role, while addressing regional conflicts at the same time. Relations between Hezbollah and the UAE have been tense due to the increasing influence of Hezbollah, backed by Iran, but this visit indicates its readiness to engage in dialogue and find common ground,” says Imad Salamey, professor of political science at the Lebanese American University in Beirut and president of the Center for Arab Research and Development (CARD).

Salamey speaks of “several strategic interests that push the UAE to interact with Hezbollah,” including:

“- Reducing regional tensions, especially with the rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and the UAE with Iran.

– Confirming diplomatic influence: The UAE aspires to be a strong mediator in regional politics.

– Dealing with practical reality: Despite past hostilities, practical considerations are leading to a change in the UAE’s approach, as it realizes that diplomacy and dialogue can lead to better results than continuous hostility.”

“Both the UAE and Hezbollah have shown readiness to engage in opportunistic pragmatism,”  he added. Based on this, he believes that “the UAE may play a role in finding a compromise solution to the presidential deadlock in Lebanon, while considering Hezbollah’s interests,” concluding that “however, any significant rapprochement is premature and subject to various geopolitical shifts, especially those related to the war in Gaza.”

Hassan Alian, head of the Committee for Expellees from the UAE and a close contact of Hezbollah, tells Daraj that “there may be a new vision or a new strategy for the UAE in dealing with regional files, and the UAE may seek to enhance its role in Lebanon,” adding, “perhaps the UAE is reading a transformative change in everything that has happened in the past, to build a new political reality, including easing the internal situation in Lebanon, as Hezbollah is present and has its influences, so why cut off communication with it? Especially since Hezbollah does not have enmity with the UAE,” and Alian believes that “the UAE is moving to reduce tensions in relations and animosity in the region.”

As for Daher, he sees that “the UAE has become more reliant on a policy of avoiding crises, trying as much as possible to avoid problems in its regional foreign policy, after several years of involvement in conflicts through intermediary groups. Abu Dhabi is very pragmatic, starting from the Syrian regime to Hezbollah, but the United States remains a major strategic force for the UAE,” noting that “Washington remains the main supplier of weapons to the UAE, accounting for about 60 percent of these imports between 2019 and 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, but regional developments must also be considered, as they result from the erosion of US global power.”

Returning to “Dubai Unlocked”, we review the most prominent figures associated with Hezbollah who appeared in the project and whom the project team was able to verify their identities.

Adham Hussein Tabaja

According to “Dubai Unlocked” documents, Tabaja owns six properties in the Nad Al Hasa area in the Silicon Gate 3 building, and the investigation team was able to confirm Tabaja’s continued ownership of the six properties to this day.

Not only is Tabaja listed on the sanctions list, but he is also on the wanted list, and according to the Rewards for Justice website, “Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information that leads to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of Hizballah. Adham Husayn Tabaja, also known as Adham Tabaja, is a Hizballah member who maintains direct ties to senior Hizballah organizational elements, including the terrorist group’s operational component, Islamic Jihad.”

According to the statement, “Tabaja also holds properties in Lebanon on behalf of Hizballah.” But is America aware of his properties in Dubai?

Tabaja owned the majority of shares in the real estate and construction work  company, Al-Inmaa Group for Tourism Works,  based in Lebanon, “which was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in June 2015,” according to the same statement. The statement focuses on the role of the Inmaa Engineering and Contracting Company in “obtaining oil and construction development projects in Iraq that provide both financial support and organizational infrastructure to Hizballah. Tabaja and his companies have also sought to secure lucrative business contracts in the Green Zone areas of Baghdad, Iraq. Tabaja has worked with Hizballah officials, including Hizballah political official Muhammad Kawtharani, for these projects.”

Tabaja was added to the global sanctions list on June 10, 2015, and accordingly, all his properties and the benefits derived from them, which are subject to U.S. jurisdiction, were banned, and Saudi Arabia classified Tabaja and his companies as terrorist entities.

In September 2021, the UAE Cabinet issued a decision classifying 38 individuals and 15 entities on the local terrorism list, including Tabaja, and the decision called on regulatory authorities to monitor and identify any individuals or entities linked by any financial, commercial, or technological relationship and to take necessary actions in accordance with the laws in force in the country, according to the Emirates News Agency – WAM.

The investigative team could not reach Tabaja for comment.

However, it is not an exception, as the “Dubai Unlocked” documents contain the names of several figures listed on the sanctions list, which we confirmed during our work on the project.

Here, Shaar posits: “Is it in the interest of the Emirati authorities to help individuals from Hezbollah to own properties there?’ In my opinion, no. The idea does not lie in the fact that the Emirates will gain something  by allowing these individuals to invest despite the sanctions, but that they do not have clear compliance rules (due diligence) to control these individuals. I do not expect the Emirati authorities to be directly aware of this issue, but they do have an astonishing appetite for business… For them, business is business.”

Ali Raouf Osseiran

Osseiran is yet another businessman linked by Washington to Hezbollah, subject to US sanctions, and manages three companies based in Dubai: Best Diamond House DMCC, G and S Diamond FZE, and Bexley Way General Trading LLC.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department, Osseiran facilitated the payment, shipment, and import of artworks purchased by Nazem Said Ahmed, a prominent financier for Hezbollah, from major auction houses to international exhibitions, to fund the party. The statement also noted that “ Osseiran facilitated the payment, shipment, and delivery of cash, diamonds, gemstones, artworks, and luxury goods on behalf of Nazem Said Ahmed, and assisted the latter in avoiding US sanctions.”

Here, it is necessary to recall who Nazem Said Ahmed is: a businessman and art dealer listed on the sanctions list since December 13, 2019, on charges of funding Hezbollah. Similar to Tabaja, the Justice Rewards Program is offering a reward of up to $10 million, for providing any information leading to the disruption of Hezbollah’s financial mechanisms, including information about Nazem Said Ahmad.

In a previous investigation by Daraj as part of the Pandora Papers project led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the name Saleh Assi, a businessman subject to US sanctions, appeared linked to Nazem Said Ahmad as well.

At that time, the Daraj team met with Nazem Ahmad “in his luxurious apartment in central Beirut, which he turned into a consistently updated museum filled with valuable paintings and precious artifacts, so much so that hardly a wall or corner in his house is without these pieces.” When asked about these accusations, he smiled and did not mention any details “about his relationship with Nasrallah and the leaders of Hezbollah,” reducing these accusations to being “a war against the Shiites,” saying: “They accuse me of being Hezbollah: I fit the stereotype because I fast and pray, and I am proud of who we are and where we come from.”

Ahmad considers that the accusation of being a major funder of Hezbollah began with the start of his business flourishing, due to “Belgian intelligence reports for figures loyal to Israel,” and he says: “They investigated me and I was acquitted of this in Belgium, they accused me of funding Hezbollah and stirred sectarian tensions.”

Osseiran owned several properties, specifically seven properties, as revealed in the leaks of the project:

– Four in the Burj Khalifa area (two units in 29 BLVD T1 and one unit each in BD STANDPOINT A, CLAREN TOWER 2)

– A property in Dubai Marina (Marsa Dubai) (Marina Quay West building)

– A property in AL YELAYISS 2 (TOWN SQUARE SAFI 2A building)

– A property in AL RUWAYYAH

However, the investigation team could not confirm whether these properties are still in Osseiran’s name, and he did not respond to the questions sent to him by the investigative team.

Ali Reda Al-Banai

Ali Reda Al-Banai, a Qatari national, along with his brother Abdul Moeed Al-Banai, was classified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) due to their role in providing material assistance, sponsorship, financial support, or technological support to Hezbollah. Ali Al-Banai also participated in secretly sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah, transferred money to Hezbollah until the end of 2020, and planned large financial transfers to senior officials in Hezbollah, according to the US Treasury statement. The statement pointed out that Al-Banai met with Hezbollah officials during his visits to both Lebanon and Iran, and he began donating to Hezbollah through a donor in Kuwait and a branch of the “Martyrs Foundation” in Kuwait, which was also included on the sanctions list in 2007.

Ten years later, in 2017, Al-Banai planned to transfer millions of dollars to a senior official in Hezbollah, and as of 2018, he was involved in a process of transferring funds from Qatar to organizations affiliated with Hezbollah, according to the statement on sanctions.

According to “Dubai Unlocked”, Al-Banai’s name appeared as a controlling party on five units in the Al Yufrah 2 area, and it is likely that Al-Banai no longer owns/controls the mentioned units, and he did not respond to the questions sent to him by the investigation team.

Bassam Hussein Murad

Among the companies listed on the sanctions list, as part of Nazem Said Ahmad’s network is tMSD SPRL Diamon Trading for diamond trading, and the company was classified among the top 10 best buyers of diamonds from the official diamond trader in the country, according to the Daily Maverick (South Africa).

Bassam Murad is a Belgian citizen who owns or controls Antwerp, a branch of MSD in Belgium, MSD Capital (PTY) LTD in South Africa, MSD DMCC in Dubai, and MSD SPRL Diamond Trading in South Africa, all of which are linked to Hezbollah, according to the US Treasury statement.

MSD SPRL Diamond Trading, managed by Murad, is linked to another company called Mega Gems owned by Firas Ahmed, the son of Nazem Said Ahmad, who was running his father’s business in South Africa, according to the US Treasury. Both Murad and MSD SPRL Diamond Trading participated in the commercial project to design, develop, and build a new diamond center to house the offices of Mega Gems and its facilities.

According to the sanctions, Bassam Murad also conducted transactions or acted as an intermediary for Firas Ahmed to contribute to the layering stage, which is the second stage in the money laundering process, to create layers that hide the sources of illicit funds.

Murad’s name also appeared in the “Dubai Unlocked” documents as a controlling party on properties in Al Thanyah Third and Dubai Marina (Marsa Dubai), but it is likely that the properties are no longer his. 

Murad did not respond to the questions sent to him by the investigation team.

Mohammed Bazzi

A Lebanese-Belgian citizen, and former honorary consul of Lebanon in Gambia, Mohammed Bazzi is classified by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as a global terrorist for providing financial, material, technological, and financial services support to Hezbollah in May 2018. According to OFAC, Bazzi is considered a major funder of Hezbollah through his business activities in Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq, and throughout West Africa. Bazzi was also on the Rewards for Justice list. 

Following his classification on the sanctions list, Bazzi and his partner Talal Shahin attempted to use an American individual to liquidate their interests in some real estate assets in Michigan, and transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars from the proceeds of the liquidation from the United States to Lebanon without the required licenses from OFAC, by pretending that the American individual was conducting unrelated legitimate transactions. 

He was charged by a US court with attempting to evade sanctions and was arrested in Romania in February 2023 and extradited to the United States in April 2023.

His name appeared in the documents as a controlling party on one property in AL THANYAH FIFTH, but it is likely that he no longer controls/owns the property, and the investigation team was unable to reach his lawyer.

The US Treasury did not respond to the questions sent by the project team, and the Hezbollah Media Office and many media faces and personalities associated with the party did not respond to the investigative team’s attempts to contact them.

James Smith