Family members, individuals under sanctions, and entities linked to the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have acquired more than 20 luxury properties worth £17.7 million in Dubai, according to an investigation by The Sentry, a US investigative group. The properties, held in the United Arab Emirates, are part of a sprawling 'paramilitary-industrial complex' across Africa and the Middle East.
The RSF, accused of committing genocide, has relied on the UAE as a 'safe haven' for family members and wealth, much of which is believed to come from gold smuggled out of Sudan. Hemedti, as Dagalo is known, seized control of Darfur’s largest goldmine in 2017, with exports enabling him and his family to accumulate significant assets. A network of UAE-based firms has allowed the RSF leadership to turn smuggled gold into hard currency.
Nick Donovan, senior investigator at The Sentry, said: 'In addition to arming the militia, the UAE allows the RSF to base part of its paramilitary-industrial complex in Dubai. Our investigation shows the Dagalo family has also found a safe haven for its wealth in the Emirates.' The Gulf state, the RSF’s chief foreign backer, denies accusations of providing weapons and mercenaries.
Analysis of leaked real estate records revealed properties owned by a company linked to the RSF and members of Hemedti’s family were worth approximately £7.4 million, with real estate owned by sanctioned individuals linked to the RSF worth another £10.3 million. Relatives of Hemedti acquired luxury six-bedroom villas in a gated community near Dubai’s Meydan racecourse, purchased by the UAE-registered firm Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services, whose owner is also linked to Dubai’s gold trade and has US sanctions.
Further analysis found that Hemedti’s wife bought a plot of land for £627,000 six months into Sudan’s war in a development near Dubai’s Trump International Golf Club. Mustafa Ibrahim Abdel Nabi Mohamed, sanctioned by the EU and UK as a financial adviser to the RSF, owns an apartment worth £516,000 in the Burj Khalifa. The Dagalo family declined to comment on specific properties, stating that any assets were properly obtained and members engaged in legitimate commercial activity.
