The mega-rich city that has replaced Spain as the best place for British fraudsters to come to justice | World | News

Dubai is now so embroiled in British organized crime that fraudsters are more common there than on the Costa del Sol.

The city of fun in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now not only favored as a place to launder business and investment money, but is also seen as a runaway hideout. Not to mention the perfect place to party and show off your cash.

In the late 1970s in Spain, the Costa del Sol became known as the “Criminal Coast” due to the prevalence of British fraudsters hiding out there, buying up businesses and sunbathing.

In 1978, a century-old extradition treaty expired, which meant the chances of anyone being wanted in the country were slim. Britain is sent back from Spain.

The respite lasted only seven years, until 1985, when the extradition treaty was replaced, but by then a host of British fraudsters had established their roots in places like Marbella.

Extraditions between Spain and the UK are now common, but many British criminal groups still have strong links with southern Spain.

As a country for fraudsters, Dubai was unheard of in the 1980s and little known in the 1990s.

However, after the Millennium, construction in this oil-rich city gained momentum, and in 2001 construction began on the artificial island Palm Jumeirah.

Suddenly it was a new place under the sun where dirty cash disappeared into new business ventures and investments.

What's more, there seemed to be no questions asked about the cash flowing in, making it more attractive.

Until 2008, there was no extradition treaty with the UK, making it the perfect new sunny destination for our fraudsters.

Even after the treaty comes into force, many British criminals feel safe there because sources say buying land or businesses in Dubai could prevent extradition with bribes as another option due to fear of corruption.

So many British organized crime groups have now taken root in Dubai that it is rare for the city not to be mentioned in any major organized crime trial in British courts.

This will be due to either the suspected presence of the wanted person or the flow of funds or property ownership through the UAE.

The Costa del Sol has never been tested to this extent.

In November 2019, the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed it had arrested 24 people from the north of England linked to a gang suspected of smuggling millions of pounds in suitcases brought from the UK to Dubai.

Operations manager Jon Hughes said at the time: “Border Force did an excellent job preventing the money from leaving the UK. We have a number of investigations to complete and we are working effectively with our partners at Dubai Police.”

By then the NCA had also charged 12 people it said were part of a west London ring that allegedly smuggled £15 million.

In August 2019, the agency froze £100 million held in eight bank accounts at the UK branch of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, owned by the Dubai government.

That same year, Mick Gallagher, then head of the Met Police's Serious Crime Command, said: 'There's a hell of a lot of building work there. The lack of regulation in Dubai means it has become a global center for money laundering.”

Since 2019, throughout the lockdown period, the infamous 'Sunshine and Lollipops' group of young Brits transported millions of pounds of cash to Dubai on behalf of organized crime groups.

Interestingly, millions of pounds of cash secretly left the UK in suitcases on Emirates flights and were officially reported and accepted in Dubai as gold trading profits.

The case resulted in a series of high-profile criminal prosecutions, including charges against UAE-born leader Abdulla Alfalasi, 47, who had ties to the highest levels of Dubai society.

However, several Britons remain in Dubai – apparently under investigation.

Last year there was a British prosecutor I heard say during a break in an organized crime case that people wanted in the UK, he had “bribed” Dubai officials and “nothing happened” in terms of their extradition.

A senior British detective said: “Due to Dubai's bad history of extradition to the UK, criminals believe they can operate there with impunity.”

The notorious Kinahan Cartel, which was founded in Ireland but has main bases in the UK and Spain, is suspected of serious international drug smuggling.

Her queen, Christy, 67, runs the organization with her sons Daniel, 47, and Christopher, 43, who have identity cards as consultants in Dubai.

It is known where they live in Dubai, but more than two years after the United States offered a $5 million (£3.8 million) reward for each of them for information leading to their arrest and prosecution, they have not been extradited.

However, in recent years, some senior British figures and other organized crime figures have been extradited from Dubai.

Liverpool fraudsters Leon Cullen and Michael Moogan were arrested in Dubai in February and April 2021 respectively, before being returned to the UK and jailed.

However, according to underworld sources, there are about 400 British criminals wanted on charges of using the infiltrated EncroChat mobile phone system, which is still hiding in Dubai.

The move to Dubai also brought together senior representatives of organized crime from around the world in one place, where they can work together, effectively creating supercartels.

One former Met Police detective said: “When I investigated British organized crime in the 1990s, Dubai never came up – only Spain.

“The topic came up a few times after 2000, but since I retired it seems to have picked up steam. All the other crime stories you read seem to be related to Dubai in some way.”

Express.co.uk has contacted Dubai authorities several times to ask about this reputation and why they didn't carry out more scrutiny when millions of pounds of cash were brought into the country and declared in suitcases during the Sunshine and Lollipops case, and there has yet to be a response.

Emirates was also contacted for comment on this matter, but received no response.