Syrian national convicted of money laundering revealed among “Riga Waterfront” investors
An investigation by Latvian Television's “de facto” together with the EBU investigative journalism network found that a Syrian national living in Dubai and convicted in Denmark of laundering millions is among the investors in the large-scale “Riga Waterfront” development.
A joint investigation by Latvian Television's programme “de facto” and the EBU investigative journalism network has found that one of the investors in the ambitious “Riga Waterfront” project in Riga is Jowan Haji Osman, a Syrian national residing in Dubai with a criminal conviction in Denmark.
According to Danish court records, Osman pleaded guilty in 2023 to laundering more than 65 million Danish kroner — over eight million euros — in order to conceal the criminal origin of the funds. Before his arrest, he had purchased real estate in the United Arab Emirates, and one of those addresses later appeared in documents of a company linked to “Riga Waterfront”.
Investment tied to residence permit rules
Osman is one of 32 individual investors holding category B capital shares in “Riga Waterfront Investment Holdings”. Each of these investors put in 100,000 euros, and the group includes citizens of several countries, among them four Syrian nationals.
That exact sum draws additional attention because Latvia's Immigration Law allows a foreign national to apply for a temporary residence permit valid for up to five years if at least 100,000 euros has been invested in a company's capital. The State Border Guard's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) declined to tell the programme whether Osman has applied for or received such a permit in Latvia, though it noted that a criminal conviction can serve as grounds for refusal.
“Riga Waterfront” did not directly answer the programme's question of whether investors put in money aiming to obtain residence permits. Project representatives stressed that transactions go through licensed banks, which verify the origin of funds. PMLP said it would take the newly revealed information about Osman into account.
“Riga Waterfront” is one of the largest development projects currently planned for Riga. On the site of the former Andrejsala and export port along the Daugava river, developers intend to build a new city quarter with about 8,000 housing units, hotels, offices and public infrastructure. Total planned investment in the project reaches three billion euros.
