Some wealthy Russians bought real estate in the United Arab Emirates, while others sold them and converted them into cryptocurrencies.

One cryptocurrency firm was inundated with requests from Swiss brokers to liquidate holdings worth $2 billion and above.

According to one of the executives:

We’ve had about five or six requests in the last two weeks.

They kind of fell off at the last minute, which isn’t rare, but we’ve never had this much attention

He added that they had one order from a Swiss broker to sell 125,000 bitcoin ($6 billion) to one of his clients.

Switzerland’s Economic Affairs Secretariat (SECO) said cryptocurrencies are subject to the same sanctions and restrictions as other assets owned by sanctioned individuals.

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But Dubai’s current position on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, has been neutral.

Russians see their money safe in Dubai, an attractive location for the wealthy. One Dubai real estate broker stated:

We have seen a lot of Russians and even Belarusians come to Dubai and bring whatever they can bring, even cryptocurrency.

A source told Reuters that Russians are using cryptocurrency to buy real estate in Dubai to transfer their cryptocurrency from sanctioning jurisdictions.

Western diplomats raise their concerns about Dubai’s negativity:

Three diplomats from the West said they were increasingly concerned about the number of Russians seeking financial asylum in the UAE and cited concerns that some might act on behalf of those under sanctions.

Two diplomats said they doubt Dubai would crack down on Russian money because of its neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, another expressed hope that the UAE would deal with the potential damage to its reputation and take tougher measures.

Dubai’s reputation as a holiday destination attracted many Russian visitors and property buyers before and during the war.

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In March 2022, the Financial Action Task Force placed the UAE on a “grey list”, joining countries that will be subject to further scrutiny by the regulator for financial crimes and the possibility of money laundering.

The UAE now has a regulatory body that looks after the cryptocurrency arena and seeks advisory information on money laundering, stopping and limiting it.

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