André Gauthier: Victim of the West turning a blind eye to Dubai money laundering

A massive diplomatic effort to free André from a life behind bars resulted in his ultimate exoneration of the charges against him. But was André’s nightmare experience a consequence of Western governments ignoring serious crime in the UAE?

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, who initiated the diplomatic efforts to bring André home, explains the underlying issues that contributed to his years-long ordeal. “When I spoke at the OffshoreAlert conference in Miami during the Gauthier case in 2019, an FBI agent asked an important question. ‘Why does the West ignore money laundering and corruption in the UAE?’ The US, Canada and the UK are fully aware of the extent of criminal operations in the UAE, of money laundering and of corruption. They’re aware of Iran sanction violations, of the UAE’s harbouring of wanted criminals and of extraterritorial abuses.

“The answer is less important than discussing the consequences. As it was explained to me by British and American diplomats, the ‘UAE is our most important trade and security ally in the Middle East’. They pay significant amounts to lobby politicians and suppress violations. But this is at the expense of citizens like André Gauthier, a victim of our support for the UAE’s criminality.