Didn't see this posted already...As more and more stories get printed about the rapidly escalating wealth in Dubai (skyscrapers, man-made islands, marinas, and neighborhoods that make Monaco look like East St. Louis), I've wondered how much of the "unaccounted" Pentagon cash sent to Iraq ended up in their pockets...
Car plates fetch 9.8 mln dlrs in UAE auction
An auction for 57 special car registration plates fetched some 9.8 million dollars Friday, with the double-digit plate 50 G being sold for some 926,000 dollars, WAM official news agency reported. More than 300 bidders took part in the auction organised by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority, which saw a fierce race to grab the few double-digit numbers on offer.
The registration number 23 G came second after going for 2.92 million dirhams (795,600 dollars), while the number 32 G was sold for 2.5 million dirhams (681,000 dollars). Triple-digit plate number 700 F was sold for 1.3 million dirhams (354,000 dollars), while four-digit plate 8000 G got 690,000 dirhams (188,000 dollars).
Auctions for car registration plates have become a fashion in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates with auction organisations frequently netting millions of dollars. In February, a wealthy Emirati splashed out a record 52.2 million dirhams (14.2 million dollars) on an Abu Dhabi registration plate bearing number "1". In May last year, another one spent more than five million dollars for the number "5".
Oil-producing Gulf states such as the UAE have seen their economies boom in recent years on the back of record-high crude prices.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080502/od_afp/lifestyleuaeauto_080502162408
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