Dubai Unlocked: A Little Iran with All Its Criminals
by Investigative Journalism Group — 15May2024
Unofficial statistics indicate that about half a million Iranians live in the United Arab Emirates, most of whom live in Dubai. In recent years, many Iranians have bought property and land in Dubai.
While nearly 7000 Iranian nationals are listed as owners of at least 9400 residential properties in the 2022 data leak, academics who have studied this data and additional sources expect the actual figure of Iranian owners of these residential properties to be more than 9000. They further told Norwegian outlet E24 that the apartments and villas concerned are estimated to be worth more than $7 billion at the start of 2022.
In the following report, we will discuss a group of Iranians who are property owners in Dubai, and whose names and information are in the public’s interest.
About the project
Dubai Unlocked is based on leaked data providing a detailed overview of hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai and information about their ownership or usage, largely from 2020 and 2022.
The data was obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., that researches international crime and conflict. It was then shared with Norwegian financial outlet E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which coordinated an investigative project with dozens of media outlets from around the world.
The data includes the listed owner of each property, as well as other identifying information such as his or her date of birth, passport number, and nationality. In some cases the data captured renters instead of owners.
Journalists used the data as a starting point to explore the landscape of foreign property ownership in Dubai. They spent months verifying the identities of the people who appeared in the leaked data, as well as confirming their ownership status, using official records, open source research, and other leaked datasets.
A Paradise for Iranian Criminals
Who exactly are the Iranians who own real estate in Dubai? Iranians who have purchased homes in Dubai in the last few years come from a range of different backgrounds. From the super rich and famous to fraudsters, defendants and convicts of famous corruption cases, economic criminals, wanted fugitives, embezzlers, defaulters, bribe givers and bribe takers, money launderers, relatives of officials, aristocrats to relatives of high-ranking members of the regime and the Revolutionary Guards — all these people have at least one thing in common: they own property, from small offices to luxury villas, in that small city across the Gulf, Dubai.
But not everyone on this list, despite having one or multiple properties in Dubai, lives in Dubai. While some do, others are fugitives or convicted criminals serving sentences inside Iran’s prisons.
Iranian media have given some of these individuals the title of “Sultan” — like the “Sultan of Steel” or “Sultan of Fuel Smuggling.” Others are unconvicted “aghazadehs” (children of influential figures within the political or economic elite of Iran) whose names have appeared in connection with embezzlement cases and crimes that are yet to have surfaced in Dubai. They too have villas and apartments in Dubai.
Some of the Iranians whose names and properties are revealed in this leaked document have purchased far more than one property in Dubai. One of the economic convicts that we will learn more about in this report purchased more than 135 properties. Another individual, who was listed as one of the biggest bank fraudsters in one of his companies before appearing on this list, owns more than 300 properties in Dubai.
Famous Cases
A considerable number of criminals, escaped convicts, prisoners and others whose names have appeared in the media or court documents related to famous economic corruption cases are serious clients of Dubai’s real estate world.
Auto Parts Manufacturers: The Story of Two Billionaires
In the list of Iranians who own property in Dubai, the names of two major auto part manufacturers are revealed: Abbas Iravani and Mohammad Alipour.
Abbas Iravani is convicted in the “Ezam Group” case. In February 2024, the Iranian judiciary announced the verdict of this case, which had been ongoing since 2019, sentencing Abbas Iravani to 65 years in prison in connection with two violations related to the construction of auto parts. He has been charged for significantly disrupting the country’s economic system, both through organized and professional smuggling of auto parts and by undermining the monetary and currency system. He allegedly acquired large sums of money illicitly and illegally from the banking network.
In the early 1970s, when Iravani was 17 years old, he opened a shop in the lock and hinge row of the market. When the Iran-Iraq war started in 1980, he served for several months in the Chamran’s Irregular Warfare Headquarters. In 1986, Iravani began importing auto parts and in a little less than 10 years, owned two factories, including Ezam Automotive Parts Group which presently includes 14 factories.
Ezam Automotive Parts Group, one of Iran’s largest auto parts manufacturers, was accused of a long list of crimes including bribing bank, customs, provincial administrations, and Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade officials, forging documents, importing Chinese parts into Iran and selling them as Iranian brands and committing fraud in the payment of customs duties.
Iravani has denied all of the allegations against him and has even accused the Iranian government of extortion.
In court, Iravani spoke proudly about bypassing the sanctions and also once said:
“If I have a single dollar outside the country, let the government confiscate all of it and execute me. Few people have worked as hard as I have. If my employees have made a mistake, I am not to blame.”
Until recently, Iravani was the owner of an office unit in Dubai’s Aspect Tower worth over 2.4 million dirhams, equivalent to $650,000.
But Iravani is not the only infamous auto parts manufacturer who purchased property in Dubai. A defendant in another high-profile auto parts manufacturing case known as the “Crouse” case is another homeowner in Dubai.
Mohammad Alipour Fetrati, one of the board members of the Crouse Auto Parts Company, was accused of participating in the disruption of Iran’s economic system through heading a criminal group in the field of professional and organized smuggling of automobile parts between 2013 to 2020. According to the case, Alipour Fetrati paid bribes to customs employees and participated in the disruption of the distribution of public necessities by overpricing automobile parts sold to Saipa and Iran Khodro between 2016 and 2019.
Mr. Alipour, along with Hamid Keshavarz (the first defendant in the case) have been accused of bribing Hossein Fereydoon (the brother of Hassan Rouhani, the former president of Iran).
In the “Crouse” trial, the judicial authorities called Mr. Alipour a fugitive defendant holding Iranian-Canadian citizenship. In February 2023, nearly two years after the trial, the spokesperson of the judiciary stated that they were in the stage of issuing a verdict, however, a verdict has yet to be issued.
In response to the OCCRP and its media partners, the Attorney of Mohammad Alipour wrote:
“My client is NOT a senior board member of Iran’s Crouse Co. auto part company. In addition, any claims of wrongdoing by my client are completely false, baseless, and he has never been convicted of any crimes. Furthermore, Iranian media is not credible.”
Mr. Alipour had at least 5 building units in Dubai’s Business Bay, Burj Khalifa, and Palm Jumeirah, worth approximately 50 million dirhams or $14 million. He still owns 3 properties that are worth approximately $10.5 million.
Bank Fraud: At the Beach or in the Cell?
In recent years, numerous bank embezzlers and individuals involved in bank corruption cases, some of whom have been convicted, have purchased property in Dubai. The names of the defendants, convicts and bank fraudsters of Sarmayeh Bank shine as property owners in various neighborhoods in this small city.
Several cases have been filed in relation to Sarmayeh Bank and dozens of individuals, from ministers and government managers to relatives of ministers and IRGC commanders, as well as high-ranking clerics have been accused of financial abuse and embezzlement.
Sarmayeh Bank’s 14 thousand billion toman corruption case was related to the property of the Farhangian Reserve Fund. The managers of Farhangian Reserve Fund, who owned half of Sarmayeh Bank had illegally placed the fund’s deposits at the disposal of several companies, however, a number of these companies were chain companies with mutual owners.
One of the most famous convicts in this embezzlement case is the producer behind the popular Iranian TV series, “Shahrzad,” Mohammad Emami. Mohammad Emami was sentenced to 20 years in prison for disrupting the country’s economic system through the acquisition of illegal wealth as a result of the Sarmayeh Bank trial.
More than 40 people were accused in this case, including Mohammad Emami’s friend and partner, Amir Reza Farzan Rad. He too was convicted of direct involvement in major and significant disruption of the country’s economic system through illegitimate acquisition of property, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
According to the judiciary, Mohammad Emami is currently serving his sentence in prison and has only gone on furlough once. Amir Reza Farzan Rad however, is a fugitive. Both Emami and Farzad Rad purchased properties in Dubai.
Mohammad Emami owns a villa in Al Merkadh worth approximately 20 million dirhams, equivalent to $5.5 million. Farzad Rad, who also owns nearby, has a villa valued at an estimated 44 million dirhams or approximately $12 million.
From the Bank to the Beach: Other Bank Trials
The history of bank corruption and embezzlement in Iran is not limited to Sarmayeh Bank. Embezzlement and abuse have so gripped Iranian banks that it is estimated that somewhere between $60 to $80 billion have been embezzled from the Iranian economy and banking system in recent decades.
The news published in the media and the trials regarding bank violations that are often held behind closed doors are only a handful of examples of a much larger issue. In the list of purchasers of Dubai properties are at least eight people who have been convicted for bank fraud and embezzlement .
Rasoul Danialzadeh, Asadollah Seifi and Mohammad Vakili have at least two things in common — they are amongst the most well known names who have been convicted for financial abuse in Iran and all three are property owners in Dubai.
Bank Fraudster and Briber in Palm Jumeirah
At one point in time, Rasoul Danialzadeh was one of the biggest bank fraudsters in Iran. According to the judiciary in 2020, he owed the bank four thousand billion tomans — that’s equivalent to approximately $334 million in 2020.
Danialzadeh, who is known in some media as the “Sultan of Steel,” is the owner of Gilan Steel, Daniel Steel, and a shareholder of Kavian Steel Company.
What’s more, Danialzadeh has also been convicted of bribing Akbar Tabari (the former Director of General Finance of the Iranian Judiciary) and Hossein Fereydoon (brother of Hassan Rouhani, the former president of Iran).
In November 2019, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, the spokesperson of the judiciary stated,
“Rasoul Danialzadeh, who had fled abroad, returned to the country through the effort of the ‘Anonymous Guardians of the Imam Zaman’ and the Revolutionary Guards.”
As explained by the Iranian judiciary, Danialzadeh’s cooperation has led him to a lighter sentence of 15 years in prison. It is, however, unclear whether Rasoul Danialzadeh is currently serving his sentence.
Rasoul Danialzadeh owns at least 7 houses in Dubai, including 6 apartments in Al Thanyah Fifth and 1 villa in Palm Jumeirah. The estimated combined value of these properties is approximately $12.6 million.
A Neverending Story: Central Bank
Asadollah Seifi is one of the defendants in the Central Bank bribery case. Seifi has been accused of paying bribes to bank managers ranging from two units of 100 gram gold bars and in an even bigger incident, 500 million tomans to change the exchange rate in a brokerage contract.
Asadollah Seifi’s two Dubai apartments, situated in Business Bay and Al Thanyah Fifth, are estimated to be worth 1,800,000 dirhams or half a million US dollars.
Mohammad Vakili, like Asadollah Seifi, was a former broker of the Central Bank. In a different case, Vakili was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of organized currency smuggling and disrupting the currency and monetary system. According to the same court order, Vakili is a fugitive currently residing in Dubai.
Mohammad Vakili owns 133 apartment units in Dubai Investments Park as well as one villa in Al Thanyah Fifth.
Both Asad Seifi and Mohammad Vakili, who have partnered together in many exchange cases, are listed on US sanctions lists in relation to money laundering and the facilitation of financial relations of the Islamic Republic.
Sanctions and their Profiteers
When it comes to the US sanctions list, at least 10 of the names that appear on this list are property owners in Dubai.
These names include Pejman Mahmood Kosarayanifard, Kambiz Rostamian, Houshang Farsoudeh, Mohsen Parsajam, and the previously mentioned, Asadollah Seifi and Mohammad Vakili.
Kambiz Rostamian, who was sanctioned by the US government in 2017 in connection with Iran’s missile program, owns one apartment and one villa in Dubai at a total value of approximately $4.8 million.
Mohsen Parsajam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ryan Roshd Afzar Company, who was sanctioned by the US for his company’s support of the IRGC, owned 2 apartments valued at about $500,000.
Another example is Houshang Farsoudeh, sanctioned for allegedly helping bypass sanctions, who purchased a villa in Dubai valued at approximately $4.5 million.
Petrochemical Once Again: A 6 Billion Dollar Case and the Third Man
One of the biggest and most well known cases of embezzlement and financial abuse in Iran in recent years is the Petrochemical Commercial Co. case.
Dozens of people who helped bypass sanctions and sell sanctioned petrochemical products, which involved a transfer of 6 billion and 656 million euros from the sale of these products, accumulated considerable wealth via these deals. A number of those involved were later tried for disrupting the macroeconomic system and acquiring illegal wealth, resulting in the conviction of 15 individuals.
Among those convicted, some of whom sit in Iranian prisons and some of whom live abroad, at least 2 own properties in Dubai.
Ali Ashrafriahi, the technical advisor of the Petrochemical Commercial Co. and son-in-law of Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the former Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for charges of assisting and disrupting the economic system and the distribution of foreign currency from the export of petrochemical products. According to the verdict available, this led to Riahi illegally acquiring 29 billion rials.
Riahi purchased a hotel apartment in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa worth at least $1.6 million, which he has since sold.
In addition to Riahi, there is another convict and Dubai property owner from this case. For the same charge of subverting the economic system through the distribution of currency obtained through the export of petrochemical products, Seyed Amin Ghorashi Sarvestani was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 74 lashes.
Mr. Sarvestani, a Dominica passport holder whom the courts declare a fugitive, was sentenced in absentia. While it is believed that he has sold some of his properties, he still owns some of his five Dubai properties valued at $3.5 million.
But when it comes to the petrochemical and real estate case, there is a third man involved –who was never formally charged , but whose name has appeared in court documents on dozens of occasions: Javad Shir-Ali, the son of Mohammad Hossein Shir-Ali.
Javad is son of fugitive Mohammad Hossein, who was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison in a major corruption case involving a petrochemical company in Iran. Hossein declared to the court that he sent stolen money to “Javad,” money which was used to buy Dubai properties.
According to the leaked data, Javad Shir-Ali owns at least 4 residential units, including a villa, estimated at a total value exceeding $4 million.
An (extended) family affair
Children of famous figures and close and distant family members of government officials are among our list of Dubai property owners.
From the family of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president of Iran, we find the names of at least two sons, a daughter-in-law and a grandson on this list.
Mohsen Hashemi Bahramani, the eldest son of the family and former head of the Tehran City Council once owned two apartment units, one of which he still possesses, valued at about $380,000.
Yasser Hashemi Bahramani, the youngest son in the Rafsanjani family, owns an apartment in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa valued at approximately $750,750.Yasser’s wife, Maryam Salari, owns an apartment in the same building as her husband, valued at nearly $700,000.
Ehsan Hashemi Bahramani, who is the son of Mohsen Hashemi and grandson of Akbar Rafsanjani, owns a small $100,000 apartment in Dubai.
Strange cases, dual-nationals, and other names
There are few peculiar cases among the tens of thousands of Iranians who own properties in sunny Dubai which include a number of Iranians who purchased with non-Iranian passports.
Mehdi Shams, was the former general manager of commerce and sales in the Islamic Republic of Iran shipping company, whose initial sentence of execution in the Babak Zanjani case was reduced to 20 years in prison. A British citizen, Mehdi Shams, who is most likely still serving his sentence in Iran, owns properties including a villa worth 20 million in the Palm Jumeirah.
Another British citizen who owns property in Dubai is Javad Marandi. Javad Marandi, a British-Iranian millionaire who financially supported the British Conservative Party is in the data. Marandi was previously named in a money laundering case but never convicted.
A fuel smuggler, also known as the “Sultan of Fuel,” a gold mine owner in Iran, a fixer and money launderer for a prominent Iranian cleric — they all have purchased property in Dubai with a Canadian passport.
In Spain, Masoud Zandi Goharrizi used to hang out with politicians and the rich, lobbying and acting as a “fixer.” After the Panama papers leak, Spain accused Goharrizi of tax fraud amounting to 126 million euros in just 3 years. Goharrizi, who is now a fugitive, purchased a property in Dubai in 2009 worth at least 1.96 million euros, which he still owns.
But one of the strangest cases in this list belongs to a man named Mansour Foroozmand. Foroozmand has a fraud case in Iran that was never reported by the media. He was also arrested once in Dubai and has since been on vacation to Nice in the south of France.
According to a report by “La Marseillaise” in a French court, the Islamic Republic accused Foroozmand of taking $200 million in state currency for import, which he sold on the black market. Despite an extradition request by the court, Foroozmand’s life was saved and he was released by his lawyer’s argument highlighting the inhumane conditions in Iran’s prisons and the risk of death penalty in Iran to economic charges.
Foroozmand is the owner of at least 5 properties in Dubai including a villa, apartment and office in Business Bay, Al Thanyah Fifth and Burj Khalifa, the total value of which exceeds 10 million dollars.
In response to the email of OCCRP and its media partners in this investigation, Foroozmand called these media “blackmailers” and further stated that “all the alleged cases had already been closed by the authorities in the absence of any concrete and substantial proof.” He also said,
“The properties which you have mentioned are duly mortgaged & financed by the UAE banks on a 20 to 25 years of tenure. Make your mind clear that these mortgages and finance are duly approved by the UAE banks after the compliance and regulatory checks.”
Mansour Foroozmand is also the owner of a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport.
Another mysterious Iranian property owner in Dubai is an individual who owns 258 properties in Dubai’s Crystal Tower.
Mohammad Hadi Zolanvari is a businessman who has faced money laundering and embezzlement charges in Iran related to a massive bank loan received by one of his companies in violation of financial regulations. His money laundering charges were dismissed due to a lack of evidence and the case against him was closed in 2023 with a verdict issued, but never publicized, making it unclear whether he was convicted on other counts.
Dubai is not the only city where criminals and kleptocrats have been known to clean their cash through real estate. But experts say it has several points of appeal — particularly for those on the run from Western law enforcement or sanctions.
Until recently, the United Arab Emirates lacked extradition treaties with many countries, making it a popular destination for fugitives from around the globe. Although authorities have increased cooperation with foreign law enforcement in recent years, responses to extradition requests remain inconsistent.
According to Radha Stirling, an attorney and human rights advocate who leads the legal assistance organization “Detained in Dubai,” UAE authorities use high-profile suspects as “bargaining chips.” She further stated:
“Even if they claim to have arrested people or frozen their assets, these may just be for press release purposes.”
Some of Dubai’s real estate agents have also cultivated a reputation for asking minimal questions about the origins of their clients’ funds. Until 2022, real estate agents, brokers, and lawyers were not obligated to report large cash or cryptocurrency transactions to authorities.
The city’s property market is one of the world’s hottest, providing a vast array of investment opportunities across its fast-changing skyline. With property values on the rise, real estate investments offer a way to not only launder illicit funds, but to make additional profits.
“The city’s policies have the second-order effect of ensuring that the assets of all these parties appreciate in value across time,” said Colin Powers, a senior fellow and chief editor for the Noria MENA Program, an independent non-profit research organization.
