The alarming trend of money laundering in the UAE has been escalating recently, attracting the attention of the UAE's Financial Intelligence Unit. This activity, which has been facilitated by payment agents and real estate brokers, often includes investors taking their unreported crypto funds to purchase property in the booming Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets. Unfortunately, a lack of regulations and KYC checks have allowed criminal enterprises to launder their money using this method, thus allowing them to pump up prices and driving out legitimate buyers.

Recognizing the danger, the UAE government has stated that all facilitators of money laundering schemes based on real estate purchases will face stiff penalties, and has already fined one company $31.3 million in the first quarter of 2023. To combat this problem, the UAE authorities are following the FATF recommendations and applying a risk-based approach to the real estate market, in addition to mandating more thorough KYC and AML checks for all liquidity providers.

It is clear that more must be done to stop criminals from using this method to launder their illegal funds, and it is expected that the issue will be addressed in the upcoming FATF negotiations between the UAE and FATF. Taking the necessary legal steps will ultimately lead to better security for all the citizens of the UAE, allowing the real estate market to flourish without any criminal injection.



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