starved, beaten, raped or killed while living in tin shacks in the desert did anything begin to change.
The government, ruling family, benign dictators or whatever they wanted to call themselves didn’t see it that way.
‘They are being sued for the good work they have done,’ said Jehad Ali, the local government representative.
‘What good work?’
‘David, isn’t it obvious? They are disappointed that after all their efforts to clean up this issue and deal with the problem in the emirate they are being sued for all the good work they have done.’
Repetitive key phrases limited the scope of what I could report. He was obviously reading from a script and pushing for a ‘good work’ quote.
‘But they are not being sued for all the good work they have done Jehad. Your ruler and several hundred others are being sued by the families of thousands of children who, allegedly, were kept as slaves.’
‘David, cultural misunderstandings are common in this part of the world. With all the work that has happened with international and non-governmental organizations it is impossible for anyone to accuse us of not wishing to eradicate this problem.’
‘It’s still going on though isn’t it?’
‘Have you seen any evidence to suggest this?’
‘Not personally no, but everyone knows....’
‘Well then. If it existed surely there would be some evidence.’
‘There’s plenty of documentary evidence out there. C’mon, how about this law suit Jehad? It hasn’t been reported anywhere in Dubai even though the ruling families own all of the race tracks where this has been going on. Is this law suit why you suddenly forced every newspaper to agree not to publish anything critical about Arab leaders last month?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know David. Now, I really must go, if I can answer any more of your questions please contact my assistant.’
The line went dead. I knew from experience that if I did want to speak to him again his assistant would only deflect my calls to a random underling or send me copies of last year’s press releases.
His whining denials and obfuscation combined with a statement from a member of one of the law suit families painted a clear picture in 250 words and that was all I needed.
The second story, money laundering, was considered just another business service in liberal Dubai. There were apocryphal stories of Russians buying entire skyscrapers with suitcases loaded with cash and Ukrainians hiring passenger planes to transport the goods from their shopping sprees back home.
I checked out some of these tales to see if I could get something from the source rather than the flies at the bar. This proved easier than anticipated. Everyone I called had a story to tell. Sensibly none of them allowed me to use their real names or positions.
One of the client managers at a European corporate bank told me, ‘At least once a day I have someone call and ask something like, “I have $40 million I need to put into an account today. Can you help me?” With that kind of figure I’m obligated to see if I can’t find somewhere to place it. But if they’re jumpy by the time I’ve asked them a couple of basic questions like who they are and where they are based, I usually advise them to take their money to Bank Emarati instead.’
‘Why that bank?’ I asked.
‘Well, you know, they do have a track record and a reputation,’ she said. ‘They were one of the only banks to continue operating after the money laundering and arms trafficking scandals of the 70s, 80s and 90s. There was trouble at the top, family members were implicated, as were the CIA who used it to channel funds to the Mujahedeen.’
It took a moment for this to sink in. ‘And this happens every day?’
‘Oh at least once a day. There is so much money we could be making here, but we can’t be seen to. We’re presenting ourselves as the honest option in a dishonest market, that’s our market niche.’
***
‘The only
The government, ruling family, benign dictators or whatever they wanted to call themselves didn’t see it that way.
‘They are being sued for the good work they have done,’ said Jehad Ali, the local government representative.
‘What good work?’
‘David, isn’t it obvious? They are disappointed that after all their efforts to clean up this issue and deal with the problem in the emirate they are being sued for all the good work they have done.’
Repetitive key phrases limited the scope of what I could report. He was obviously reading from a script and pushing for a ‘good work’ quote.
‘But they are not being sued for all the good work they have done Jehad. Your ruler and several hundred others are being sued by the families of thousands of children who, allegedly, were kept as slaves.’
‘David, cultural misunderstandings are common in this part of the world. With all the work that has happened with international and non-governmental organizations it is impossible for anyone to accuse us of not wishing to eradicate this problem.’
‘It’s still going on though isn’t it?’
‘Have you seen any evidence to suggest this?’
‘Not personally no, but everyone knows....’
‘Well then. If it existed surely there would be some evidence.’
‘There’s plenty of documentary evidence out there. C’mon, how about this law suit Jehad? It hasn’t been reported anywhere in Dubai even though the ruling families own all of the race tracks where this has been going on. Is this law suit why you suddenly forced every newspaper to agree not to publish anything critical about Arab leaders last month?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know David. Now, I really must go, if I can answer any more of your questions please contact my assistant.’
The line went dead. I knew from experience that if I did want to speak to him again his assistant would only deflect my calls to a random underling or send me copies of last year’s press releases.
His whining denials and obfuscation combined with a statement from a member of one of the law suit families painted a clear picture in 250 words and that was all I needed.
The second story, money laundering, was considered just another business service in liberal Dubai. There were apocryphal stories of Russians buying entire skyscrapers with suitcases loaded with cash and Ukrainians hiring passenger planes to transport the goods from their shopping sprees back home.
I checked out some of these tales to see if I could get something from the source rather than the flies at the bar. This proved easier than anticipated. Everyone I called had a story to tell. Sensibly none of them allowed me to use their real names or positions.
One of the client managers at a European corporate bank told me, ‘At least once a day I have someone call and ask something like, “I have $40 million I need to put into an account today. Can you help me?” With that kind of figure I’m obligated to see if I can’t find somewhere to place it. But if they’re jumpy by the time I’ve asked them a couple of basic questions like who they are and where they are based, I usually advise them to take their money to Bank Emarati instead.’
‘Why that bank?’ I asked.
‘Well, you know, they do have a track record and a reputation,’ she said. ‘They were one of the only banks to continue operating after the money laundering and arms trafficking scandals of the 70s, 80s and 90s. There was trouble at the top, family members were implicated, as were the CIA who used it to channel funds to the Mujahedeen.’
It took a moment for this to sink in. ‘And this happens every day?’
‘Oh at least once a day. There is so much money we could be making here, but we can’t be seen to. We’re presenting ourselves as the honest option in a dishonest market, that’s our market niche.’
***
‘The only
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