How Dubai became a haven for criminals from around the world | 60 Minutes Australia

coming up welcome to dubba you're in the international drug business dubar is a great place to do business from the new crime capital of Australia Public Enemy Number One sorts of criminals can operate with impunity and keep their businesses going why our worst Crooks and suspected crims I are people with a lot of influence a lot of money love this glitzy Gangster's Paradise the baddest of the bad the baddest of the bad that's next on 60 Minutes it might sound like a strange thing to say but the crime capital of Australia is currently Dubai that's because this glitzy Mega City in the Persian Gulf has become home to nearly all of our biggest organized crime bosses they think by moving offshore They're Out Of Reach of federal authorities but tonight they might be thinking again an enormous leak of Dubai property records has revealed not only their home addresses but also how the city has become a prize destination for Crooks and suspected criminals from all around the world Dubai it seems has been the perfect place to do dirty business the police in Dubai want the world to think they're doing a great job so much so a few years ago they created this action-packed video showing their SWAT team on the tail of two of Australia's biggest alleged drug lords the targets were benjam pit and Matthew B both living in Dubai at the time but wanted by our police watching this dramatic vision of their arrest you'd think alleged Crooks aren't welcome in Dubai but as you're about to see that couldn't be further from the truth tonight how Dubai became a safe haven for some of Australia's most dangerous suspected criminals these are people at right the top of the tree the baddest of the bad the baddest of the bad we take you inside a global investigation exposing Dubai's luxury real estate market as a Dumping Ground for the Dirty Money of the criminal Elite do ask where they have their money from don't ask because it's not our concern Our concern is just what he want to from Villas on the water to apartment in the sky the biggest ever leak of Dubai Property Data leads us straight to the luxurious compounds of Australian crime figures who've made the city their home away from home Public Enemy Number One sorts of criminals are able to operate there with a high degree of impunity in a way that you don't see anywhere else in the world from the air you can see why Palm jera is one of Dubai's most exclusive addresses this is where you'll find some of the city's most extravagant properties and halfway down the Palm lined fonde is the home linked to Angelo pandeli Australia's most senior Hell's Angel our biggest Mr Big at the moment it's the site of a major renovation but make no mistake this sprawling beach front Villa purchased by his wife for more than 15 million is Prime real estate and in Dubai pandeli is living not as a crook but as a king he would travel regularly um first or business class he'd eat the best restaurants um I think he'd be living a very comfortable life if anyone knows just how large Angelo pandeli can live it's Tim O Conor he's now a criminal defense lawyer but until recently he spent years directing operations for the New South Wales crime commission tracking pandeli as he rose through the ranks to become Australia's most powerful organized criminal what sort of a man is pendy he's quite intelligent um very low profile doesn't like the Limelight um but a person who has made a lot of money allegedly through drug trafficking what would you estimate his wealth to be it would be I would have thought him the hundreds of millions this one man hundreds of millions yes for the last few years it's believed pandeli has been the head of the notorious Aussie cartel a group of dangerous suspected crime bosses who've organized themselves into Australia's most powerful drug trafficking Network each year it earns an estimated $1.5 billion allegedly smuggling ice and cocaine into Australia from one of its headquarters in Dubai Angelo's biggest asset by far is his connection with the Hell's Angels the angels have representation virtually everywhere in the world uh they have um Supply routs they have suppliers they have readymade networks if you're going to be bringing drugs into Australia you need people who can receive it store it and distribute it for you a person like Mr pandeli could do business elicit business virtually anywhere in the world but o Conor isn't surprised he chose the United Arab Emirates as a hub if you're in the international drug business Dubai is a great place to do business from first off its geographic location is great um Hop's given a jump into Europe not far to Southeast Asia so it's about Midway secondly if you want to be moving in the circles with International drug suppliers it's a place to go because a lot of the European people are already there thirdly there uh is no tax uh in um Dubai so therefore a lot of the mechanisms that we would have here in Australia to tax to track the illicit movement of funds such as tax bile numbers ostrak don't exist over there so put simply Dubai is a great place for someone like pandell to move elcd funds from Australia safely quickly easily perfect it's not hard to see where some of the Otten gains of the Australian Crooks end up just 15 minutes from Angelo pel's Mansion is the equally impressive Sunrise Bay Tower number one it could be known as the Mel's place of Australian drug trafficking suspects because between them a number of unit owners here were allegedly responsible for more elicit drugs entering Australia than at any other period in recent history the leaked property data shows a number of crooks clustered in the very same apartment building what does that tell us it's a nice apartment block sounds like a gangster's paradise basically yes apartments on levels 9 12 and 21 were previously linked to Mark butle the international commander of the common chero Outlaw biky gang accused drug Smuggler Benjamin pit bought on level 20 the wife of his co- accused Matthew Batar purchased apartments on levels 15 and 23 and the Deeds to an apartment on level 14 belong to Marco coffen another suspected member of the Aussie cartel a short drive from Sunrise Bay Tower is the Villa purchased by coffins associ Muhammad busay also considered a top Australian Target by the federal police they are people with a lot of influence a lot of money um and would be considered the top of the tree the baddest of the bad the baddest of the bad but in Dubai the baddest of the bad are in good company it would seem dozens of the world's worst villains have bought property in this Middle Eastern Metropolis the names appear in an extensive database of property records obtained by a global Coalition of investigative journalists led by the organized crime and Corruption reporting project it features thousands of entries and pinpoints the properties belonging to some of the world's most unscrupulous people a roll call of the Crooked criminal and corrupt how significant is this major leak of property data exposing all these gangsters criminals the corrupt living in theba it really highlights the the role that the UAE plays as the sort of pirate entrop over the world a place where any sort of businessman good bad corrupt full out criminal uh where they can operate with impunity and keep their businesses going Professor Jody vtori is a corruption and elicit wealth expert she says underworld figures aren't just allowed into Dubai they're embraced and the flow of their dirty money actually underpins the booming real estate market one of the questions is how much the economy relies on this and it may be that the criminal AC it props up a lot of what keeps the UAE the bright shiny City that the UAE is why is real estate these luxurious Villas these Seaside Apartments such a good place to move or launder dirty drug tainted funds if you're going to engage in a great deal of money laundering for criminal activity or otherwise you're going to need a robust real estate market it really comes in handy for being able to launder millions and sometimes even billions of dollars in cash you just can't do that in other in other situations you know maybe you can do that with artwork maybe to an extent with gold but there's not very many other ways to do it and unlike with artworker gold you can't live in the place in at the same time that you're laundering the funds through it and as you're about to see when it comes to purchasing property in Dubai real estate agents don't care who's buying or how they're paying do you ask where they have their money from because it's not our concern Our concern is just what you want to [Music] BU with its Skyline punctuated by glistening skyscrapers and man-made beaches lined with mega mansions Dubai has long had one of the world's hottest real estate markets a desert dream for property developers the last 50 years has seen an explosion in highend high luxury living and according to a mega Property Data leak an influx of the world's worst villains including a raft of some of Australia's suspected drug trafficking kingpins Public Enemy Number One sorts of criminals are able to operate there with a high degree of impunity in a way that you don't see anywhere else in the world Georgetown University Professor jod vtori studies corruption and elicit Finance she says Dubai has become known as a playground for The organiz crime El late so under the right conditions you can live very freely presumably with the knowledge of those in charge of the country um and be able to operate your banking your money laundering Park your yacht there park your aircraft there buy a placial mansion put your kids in school all of those sorts of activities that you couldn't get away with anywhere else in the world it's also been a place that has allowed individuals who are criminals to be able to openly buy um real estate in a way that would be much harder to do anywhere else you only have to spend an afternoon with one of Dubai's real estate agents to learn that here anything goes what's mindblowing is how Brazen it all is what you're watching is covert footage captured in Dubai by a Swedish television reporter the man being filmed is one of the city's top real estate agents in charge of selling some of Dub's best properties and as you're about to see he doesn't care who's buying or how they're paying we have a lot of people from all over the world we have people who's running from their countries to invest here with f cash only Cash Cash how do they bring them here in bags yeah Dubai it's like a move you know so it's a good place if you're corrupted you will feel comfortable you you see that it is totally safe how much cash do you take they're the Frank Confessions of a man used to the requests of the very rich even he acknowledges it's the city's relaxed regulations around real estate that draws so many people in and enables them to keep huge amounts of money safe it's one of the point of attractions in that's why people they coming from everywhere it's like they have some part of money they want to make it safe where to put it you can put it in you you're not like buying drugs or something like that you are buying properties which is giving benefits to the to the government itself yeah but maybe some do buy drugs in other countries and take the money [Music] and have to to follow everyone what they are doing from where they do you ask where they have their money from don't ask because it's not our concern such Our concern is just what you want to BU in response to this Global investigation an official from the United Arab Emirates insists it takes its role in protecting the Integrity of the Global Financial system extremely seriously the statement also said the UAE Works closely with International Partners to disrupt and deter all forms of illicit finance and while it's true there has been some cooperation with Australian authorities with the arrest and extradition of Benjamin pit and Matthew ubar many other suspects Remain the UAA insists it is cleaning up its act things are getting better can we believe that it's hard to believe they say they're cleaning up but all of these individuals have been able to very very openly in the UAE and so it it it belies belief that that they are really significantly cleaning up their act at least when it comes to certain key criminal actors in the world certainly some of Australia's most senior suspected criminals maintain interests in Dubai Angelo pandeli and Muhammad bousay are not only links to luxury property they're also suspected by Australian authorities of continuing to import drugs John the fact that Angelo pandel can purchase a $10 million us Villa in Dubai without seemingly so much of a blink from the dub authorities what does that tell us there's a lot of speculation about um how he's done it and and what might have been done to stop him doing it there's perhaps an argument to say the jibi authorities could have done more but there's almost certainly an argument to say Australian authorities could have done more John chevis is an ex- Australian federal police anti-money laundering specialist he says that what's happening in Dubai is a symptom of a system failure here in Australia for money to have been generated in Australia from crime to then be moved out of Australia across our border into another country is a process of multiple steps and there are uh possible points where law enforcement in various parts of the world could have done more to stop that happening so what you're saying is this Revelation that all these Australian gangsters are amassing significant wealth in the UAA is actually a failure potentially of Australian authorities to stop that flow of money from Australia Drug Money abroad it is yeah there arguably has been occasions um where Australian authorities could have done more to stop that money leaving the Dubai property Lake highlights a grim truth known to almost every senior law enforcement official in the nation drug trafficking and organized crime is occurring on an unprecedented scale but it's not a political priority police are having some big wins but they're barely denting the drug and dirty money flows that fuel so many corruption economic and health problems for New South Wales crime commission director Tim O Conor says the crooks or at least a good bunch of them are winning organized crime networks have almost perfected the way to bring drugs into Australia we're a big country we have a lot of trade uh people Bandy around figures as to how much we're getting who really knows uh but the fact is that um um there's still drugs available on the street if the Dubai authorities do react to this large data leak by boo out some of these Crooks cracking down on them what's going to happen to the problem uh look ultimately they just might move to another jurisdiction uh where they can do the same thing hello I'm Nick McKenzie thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe to our Channel now for brand new stories and exclusive Clips every week don't miss out on our extra minute segments and full episodes of 60 Minutes on .com. AU and the nine now up

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 3,050,153

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, 60Mins, Amelia Adams, news, world news, news australia, investigative journalism, 60 minutes australia youtube, 60 minutes youtube, 60 minutes episodes, 60 minutes australia episodes, 60 minutes australia, 60 minutes, Adam Hegarty, Dimity Clancey, Nick McKenzie, dubai, middle east, united arab emirates, travel, true crime, mafia, gangster, underbelly, organised crime, property, mansion, luxury

Id: i823AhR8zKQ

Length: 17min 31sec (1051 seconds)

Published: Sun May 19 2024