A network linked to the leadership of a militia accused of genocide has amassed a vast property portfolio in Dubai as part of a sprawling “paramilitary-industrial complex” across Africa and the Middle East, an investigation has revealed.

Family members, sanctioned individuals, and entities linked to the leader of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have acquired more than 20 luxury properties, worth £17.7m, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Sentry, a US investigative group.

Sudan’s ruinous war between the RSF and the Sudanese armed forces has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 33 million of the country’s 50 million population requiring aid, and at least 19 million facing acute hunger.

The Sentry’s findings revealed the (UAE) provides a “safe haven” for the RSF leadership’s family and wealth, much of which is believed to come from gold smuggled out of Sudan.

Hemedti seized control of Darfur’s largest goldmine in 2017, with exports enabling him and his family to accumulate significant assets.

A network of firms based in the UAE has allowed the RSF leadership to turn smuggled gold into hard currency, with Dubai a major hub for the precious metal, which is trading at near record highs.

Nick Donovan, senior investigator at the Sentry, said: “In addition to arming the militia, the UAE allows the RSF to base part of its paramilitary-industrial complex in Dubai.

“Our investigation shows the Dagalo family has also found a safe haven for its wealth in the Emirates.”

The Gulf state – the RSF’s chief foreign backer – is widely accused of supporting the militia with weapons and mercenaries, something it denies.

Analysis by the Sentry of leaked real estate records revealed that properties owned by a company linked to the RSF and members of Hemedti’s family were worth approximately £7.4m, with real estate owned by sanctioned individuals linked to the RSF worth another £10.3m.

Relatives of Hemedti acquired luxury six-bedroom villas in a small gated community near Dubai’s Meydan racecourse, close to the city centre.

The villas were brought by UAE-registered firm Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services, whose owner is also linked to Dubai’s gold trade, and who was sanctioned by the US for running other companies that provided funding and military equipment to the RSF.

Further analysis of other data, including phone records and passport data, revealed that relatives of the Dagalo family have congregated within the gated community.

Farther afield, the investigation found that Hemedti’s wife bought a plot of land for £627,000, six months into Sudan’s war, in a yet-to-be-completed luxury development near Dubai’s Trump International Golf Club.

Individuals with ties to the RSF were also named including Mustafa Ibrahim Abdel Nabi Mohamed – sanctioned by the EU and the UK for his role as a financial adviser to the RSF and the Dagalo family – who is said to own an apartment worth £516,000 in the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.

According to the Sentry, the Dagalo family declined to comment on whether its members still owned specific properties, and said that any private residences or assets had been properly obtained.

Ownership of property by Dagalo family members does not constitute or imply wrongdoing. The family also stressed that members had been engaged in legitimate commercial activity such as livestock trading, for generations.

The Sentry could not reach Prodigious for comment but said its owner had previously declined to answer questions regarding his role in other companies sanctioned for links to the RSF, stating that matters were subject to legal proceedings.

Mohamed told the Sentry that he is not a financial adviser to the RSF but has been the “financial director seconded to the Rapid Support Forces” since 2017, during a period when the RSF was a properly constituted entity governed by Sudanese law. He added that since the war began, he has not engaged in any activities that hinder peace and stability in Sudan.

The UAE has previously stated that it “categorically rejects” claims that it has provided “weapons, funding, trainers or logistical support to the RSF”. Spokespeople have been contacted for comment.

The RSF is commanded by Hemedti and his brothers Abdelrahim and Algoney, all of whom have been sanctioned.

Recently, the UN said the RSF’s attack on the western city of El Fasher last year bore the “hallmarks of genocide”, while the US has accused the group of committing genocide.

A separate report last week found a network of Colombian mercenaries, backed by the UAE, provided crucial support to the RSF during the fall of El Fasher.