Sudan29 April, 20265 min read
RSF Leaders Linked Network Holds $24 Million Dubai Property Portfolio, The Sentry Investigation Finds
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
RSF leadership-linked network holds a Dubai property portfolio. Portfolio value is reported variably: about $24 million or £17.7 million.
Dubai portfolio linked to RSF
A new investigation published by American investigative organisation The Sentry alleges that a network linked to the leadership of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) holds a $24 million property portfolio in Dubai. The report states that “a network of family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leadership of Sudan’s brutal Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia owns a $24 million real estate portfolio in Dubai consisting of over 20 properties.” Radio Dabanga says leaked records show that “several of the properties are located close together,” and that “the findings suggest that, in addition to reportedly supporting the militia with weapons and mercenaries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides a safe haven for the RSF leadership’s family and wealth.”
The Sentry investigation identifies a company linked to the RSF, Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services, as a key buyer, and says it purchased “two luxury six-bedroom villas for a total of just over $5 million.” The Eastleigh Voice describes the investigation as citing “more than 20 properties across high-end residential developments in Dubai,” including luxury villas, apartments and off-plan land acquisitions. The Guardian frames the same underlying Sentry findings as a property portfolio worth £17.7m in the UAE, saying family members and sanctioned individuals linked to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, acquired “more than 20 luxury properties, worth £17.7m.”
Who is named in the network
The Sentry-linked reporting identifies specific individuals and describes their roles in the alleged property network tied to RSF leadership. Radio Dabanga says the report links “members of the Dagalo family” to properties in “the same gated community,” and it describes Mustafa Ibrahim Abdel Nabi Mohamed as “a financial adviser to the RSF and the Dagalo family.” It also describes Taha Osman Ahmed Elhussein as “managing the relationship between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and regional actors in order to advance the RSF’s warfighting efforts.”
The Eastleigh Voice places “Hemedti” and his family at the centre of the network, naming RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and his brothers Abdelrahim Dagalo and Algoney Dagalo, both “subject to international sanctions.” The Eastleigh Voice adds that another brother, Musa Dagalo, “is not sanctioned but is also linked to property holdings in Dubai.” It further reports that Hemedti’s wife, Amna Mousa, purchased an off-plan plot in October 2023 in a luxury development near the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, valued at around $850,000.
UAE role and RSF warfighting
Across the reporting, the alleged Dubai property holdings are tied to a broader “paramilitary-industrial complex” that connects wealth storage and financial operations to the RSF.
“In addition to arming the militia, the UAE allows the RSF to base part of its paramilitary-industrial complex in Dubai.”
Radio Dabanga says the Sentry report concludes that “the findings suggest that, in addition to reportedly supporting the militia with weapons and mercenaries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides a safe haven for the RSF leadership’s family and wealth.”
The Guardian similarly quotes Nick Donovan, senior investigator at the Sentry, saying: “In addition to arming the militia, the UAE allows the RSF to base part of its paramilitary-industrial complex in Dubai.”
PressTV attributes to Nick Donovan the same framing, stating: “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 Guardian adds that the Sentry findings say the UAE provides a “safe haven” and that “much of which is believed to come from gold smuggled out of Sudan.”
It reports that Hemedti seized control of Darfur’s largest goldmine in 2017, with exports enabling him and his family to accumulate assets, and it says a network of firms based in the UAE allowed the RSF leadership to turn smuggled gold into hard currency.
Denials and responses to the claims
The reporting includes direct denials from the Dagalo family and also references the UAE’s rejection of claims about support for the RSF. Radio Dabanga says the Dagalo family said the claims relate to “private property holdings” with “no demonstrated lawful or legitimate connection to any wrongdoing,” and it insists their assets were obtained through “legitimate private-sector commercial activity for generations.” The family added that any suggestion otherwise would be “false, misleading, and defamatory.”
The Guardian reports that the Dagalo family declined to comment on whether its members still owned specific properties and stressed that “Ownership of property by Dagalo family members does not constitute or imply wrongdoing.” It also quotes the family’s position that members had been engaged in legitimate commercial activity such as livestock trading “for generations.” The Guardian says the UAE has previously stated that it “categorically rejects” claims that it has provided “weapons, funding, trainers or logistical support to the RSF.”
Humanitarian crisis and next steps
The Sentry investigation is presented in the context of Sudan’s war and the scale of humanitarian need, with the property claims framed as part of how RSF leadership sustains its operations. The Guardian says Sudan’s “ruinous war between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 33 million of the country’s 50 million population requiring aid, and at least 19 million facing acute hunger.” PressTV similarly says the crisis-hit African country is driving what is described as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with 33 million people of the country’s 50 million population needing aid and at least 19 million facing hunger.
The Eastleigh Voice says the findings come amid ongoing conflict in Sudan between the RSF and the national army, and it notes international scrutiny over alleged external support networks, arms flows, and financial facilitation. Radio Dabanga reports that the Sentry investigation concludes with “substantial evidence that Dubai’s property market continues to demonstrate significant strategic deficiencies” in oversight, and it says the authors add that the findings suggest the UAE provides a safe haven. The Eastleigh Voice says The Sentry has since called for “strengthened due diligence requirements, enhanced regulatory scrutiny of property transactions involving high-risk actors and renewed evaluation of compliance frameworks under international financial transparency standards.”
