RSF uses UAE business network to finance war, Sentry report says
October 2, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – A report by The Sentry has detailed a business network in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) operated by businessmen with ties to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), identifying five key individuals who allegedly help the paramilitary group finance its operations by turning smuggled gold into hard currency.
The October 2025 report said this network has established a variety of companies, including jewellers, an interior design firm, and a management consultancy, to support the RSF’s war effort. While some of these firms have been sanctioned, the investigation has uncovered previously unreported entities and the individuals behind them.
At the apex of what the report calls a “paramilitary-industrial complex” is RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo Mousa, known as “Hemetti”, along with his brothers Abdelrahim and Algoney Dagalo. However, the family has increasingly relied on a small group of trusted lieutenants to manage their business empire. The Sentry identified five such individuals who merit further investigation: Mazin Fadlalla, Abozer Habib, Ahmed Hashim, Naser Alhammadi, and Essa Almarri.
One of the central figures, Mazin Fadlalla, was a core member of the RSF’s procurement team in 2019, according to the report. Acting on behalf of the Dubai-based RSF front company Tradive General Trading, Fadlalla purchased almost 200 Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks, which are frequently converted by the militia into “technicals”—pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. A leaked internal RSF accounting spreadsheet reportedly describes payments to Fadlalla as “incentives”.
Fadlalla also took over ownership of Tradive after it was publicly exposed as an RSF front company and was a director at GSK Advanced Business, another RSF-linked firm in Sudan. He was also a shareholder in three companies that were later sanctioned for their links to the RSF: Tradive, GSK Advanced Business, and Al Jil Alqadem General Trading.
The report details how the RSF’s diversified business interests—which before the war included livestock trade, tourism, and construction—have narrowed, forcing the militia to rely more heavily on its core business: exporting gold from Darfur to Dubai. This model requires corporate entities to launder the smuggled gold into usable currency.
The report links several of the key individuals to at least four Dubai-based precious metals trading companies. Mazin Fadlalla established Mamlaket Kush Jewellery Trading in April 2021. Another firm, Al Zumoroud and Al Yaqoot Gold & Jewellers Trading (AZ Gold), was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2025. According to the Treasury Department, AZ Gold purchased gold from Sudan for the RSF and transported it to Dubai, and RSF leader Hemedti’s brother, Algoney Dagalo, had access to the company’s UAE bank account, which held millions of dollars. Two other companies, Blaze Gold & Jewellers Trading and Glow Gold & Jewellers Trading, were registered in March 2022 with Abozer Habib and Naser Alhammadi as owners.
Another key figure, Abozer Habib, took over ownership of the sanctioned firm Capital Tap Holding in January 2024. The U.S. Treasury accused Capital Tap of providing money and weapons to the RSF. The report notes that a leaked RSF spreadsheet from 2019 shows an “Abozer” receiving $10,000.
The network’s activities allegedly provided direct support for the RSF’s military operations. In 2019, GSK Advanced Business was used to acquire unmanned drone parts. Just before the war began in April 2023, companies linked to the network exported vehicle parts to GSK Advanced Business. For instance, Aoun Commercial Brokers, a company part-owned by Fadlalla and Ahmed Hashim, sold vehicle tires and spare parts to GSK in the four months leading up to the conflict.
When contacted by The Sentry, Ahmed Hashim denied being an owner of GSK Advanced Business and said he was the manager of a separate entity, GSK Contracting. He said he “categorically den[ies] being a front for the RSF” and is “simply a businessman who has found himself caught in the middle of this situation”.
Based on its findings, The Sentry urged sanctions authorities in the EU, U.S., and UK to investigate Mazin Fadlalla and his companies, particularly Aoun Commercial Brokers. The report also calls for investigations into any companies where Ahmed Hashim, Naser Alhammadi, or Essa Almarri are listed as directors or shareholders to determine if they are controlled by the RSF. Finally, it recommends that banks and gold traders conduct enhanced due diligence on transactions involving these individuals and their companies.