The Sentry: RSF leader linked to $1.7m Dubai property portfolio
24 February 2026
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as “Hemedti”, is closely linked to a $1.7 million property portfolio in the United Arab Emirates, according to real estate records uncovered by the investigative group The Sentry.
His apparent links to multiple Dubai properties stand in stark contrast to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan, where 12 million people are displaced as of January 2026.
According to the Sentry’s report, Hemedti purchased three apartments in Dubai’s eastern suburbs in March 2020, near the Al Minhad military airbase. The units were initially registered in his name before being sold in July 2022 to Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services, a UAE-registered company. Abo Zer Abdelnabi Habiballa, known as Abozer Habib, owns Prodigious and was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2025 for owning the Capital Tap group, a network of corporations accused of funding and arming the Rapid Support Forces.
Former Prodigious directors and owners, including Emirati businessman Naser Helal Abdulla and Sudanese national Islam Badreldin Mohamed, previously held stakes in companies within the Capital Tap group. None of the individuals or the company responded to requests for comment.
The three apartments are estimated to be worth just under $1 million. Prodigious also owns a Dubai commercial property valued at about $670,000. Between 2023 and 2025, the portfolio generated at least $80,000 annually in rental income. The commercial unit was leased to an interior design firm formerly owned by Alhammadi and Mazin Fadlalla, whom The Sentry identified in 2025 as a suspected RSF frontman.
The findings draw on leaked Dubai property records from 2020 and 2022 first obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), with additional reporting support from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). The investigation marks the third report by The Sentry, detailing alleged financial and commercial ties between the Dagalo family, the RSF, and actors in the UAE.
The UAE has repeatedly denied supporting the RSF. However, previous investigations have alleged that weapons and drones flow from the UAE to the RSF, while smuggled Sudanese gold moves in the opposite direction. A report by The New York Times said backing for the RSF stems from senior Emirati leadership, including ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and his brothers, Sheikh Mansour and Sheikh Tahnoun.
The case also underscores longstanding concerns about Dubai’s property market, which critics say has been vulnerable to illicit finance due to limited scrutiny of buyers’ funds. In 2024, the Financial Action Task Force withdrew the UAE from its “grey list” due to improved anti-money laundering controls and real estate suspicious transaction reporting, but watchdogs say enforcement is patchy. In 2024, Transparency International found that at least 58 of 100 politically exposed individuals previously identified as owning Dubai property still held assets there, raising fresh questions about the emirate’s role as a haven for controversial wealth.