Into the never ending mess that has become Dubai you can now add the impossible-to-believe tale of Herve Jaubert — a real-life former French secret agent whose new book details his captivity and daring escape from the Emirate.
Set to be released next month, the book — aptly named Escape from Dubai – tells the story of Jaubert’s four years living in Dubai where the marine technology specialist was recruited by local giant Dubai World to develop submarines for fancy locals to use as fun.
During his Dubai good times, Jaubert lived rent-free in a posh villa, hung out with local royals (see above) and even drove a Lamborghini.
But things went from fab to bad when Dubai World accused Jaubert of delivering submarines that were less than sea-worthy. According to Jaubert — who served for years as a French naval spy — his passport was then confiscated, he was aggressively interrogated and threatened with torture.
He sent his family to America and — using his spy skills — planned a daring escape from Dubai on a tiny raft dressed as a woman.
“When you are covered from head-to-toe in an abaya and veil nobody talks to you, nobody looks at you,” Jaubert says. “Wearing the abaya nobody bothered me, it’s like I never existed.”
Jaubert says his drag-costumed escape was daring, but relatively straight-forward. During a period away from Dubai World authorities, he bought a small boat which he sailed for six hours into international waters to meet a friend in a larger boat which then sailed for eight days to India. Before departure, he sabotaged a nearby coast-guard boat to make sure he would not be followed.
Now back in the USA, Jaubert will release his book in October and says he will never set foot in Dubai again.
Smart move, since he’s already been convicted in absentia to fraud and sentenced to five years in prison and a $3.8 million.