Germany's 'Arab crime gangs' splinter into mini-clans

Germany’s notorious Arab "crime families" have splintered into mini-clans that have no single boss and sometimes clash violently with one another, a study has found.

Crimes such as the Green Vault jewel heist in Dresden are typically carried out by small units that demand loyalty from an inner family circle, says leading clan researcher Mahmoud Jaraba.

After interviewing hundreds of clan members, Dr Jaraba said conflicts within families can "develop into violence and sometimes to brutality".

However, most family members are not involved in crime, he said.

Politicians in Germany have repeatedly raised the alarm over clan crime, especially in hotspots in Berlin and the industrial Rhineland.

The Remmo family, which has roots in Lebanon, has become one of the underworld's most notorious after five members were convicted over the theft of the Green Vault treasures in 2019.

The historic jewels with an insurance value of €114 million ($121.8 million) were stolen by burglars who smashed their display cases with an axe.

The Green Vault burglary in Dresden in 2019 was one of Germany's most notorious clan crimes. AFP

Two of the Green Vault burglars were previously convicted over the theft of a giant gold coin from a Berlin museum and the Remmo clan has also been linked to bank robberies.

The Al Zein family, another prominent clan with Lebanese ancestry, has been the subject of long-running police efforts to arrest and deport senior figures.

However, today's criminal networks do not cover whole families such as Remmo and Al Zein but are today made up of "sub-sub-clans" as small as a dozen people, said Dr Jaraba.

The clans are often "represented as highly structured from top to bottom, under the central leadership of a head of the family who controls and dominates everything relating to the clan", he said.

"I can tell you that does not correspond to reality. There is no central leadership. There is no firm structure."

Many families migrated to Germany in the 1980s but have since splintered into various branches.

In some cases there is a "loose co-operation" between criminal elements in a large clan but not under any direction from family kingpins, Dr Jaraba found.

Elders interviewed by the researcher at the Erlangen Centre for Islam and Law in Europe denied exercising any control over large families.

“They have influence, they have their voice in the community, but most of the time they only have power over a particular family structure, which counts at the very, very bottom," Dr Jaraba said.

In some cases delinquent children fall into criminality of their own accord despite their family's efforts to stop them, he said.

He said most family members want crime to be tackled but are reluctant to work with police as they feel they are under a "general suspicion".

Authorities in Berlin and in Germany's industrial west have made repeated efforts to crack down on clan crime. AP

Germany's parliament recently passed a law allowing deportations of people linked to organised crime even if they have no convictions.

About 800 people are being investigated over suspected connections to the clans, of whom 339 are German citizens, 146 are from Lebanon, 129 are Turkish and 46 are Syrian, according to police figures last year.

Public discourse on clan crime can "lead to a feeling of isolation and stigmatisation" especially among young people who consume media coverage, Dr Jaraba's study says.

"For young people in large families there is hardly any room to develop individually and distance themselves from criminal stereotypes," it says.

Dr Jaraba said internal conflicts can arise over marriages within families or in the name of "family honour", sometimes spilling into violence.

However, he rejected the label of "parallel justice" sometimes applied to Germany's clans, saying any family might try to settle differences internally before going to the police.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Fireball

Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.

A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.

"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.