Bashar al-Assad Airlifted $250 Million Of Syria's Wealth To Moscow: Report

The regime of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad airlifted around $250 million (Rs 2,082 crore) in cash to Moscow, according to a stunning revelation made in a Financial Times report. The transactions were carried out in a two-year period - 2018 and 2019 - and included nearly two tonnes of $100 bills and currency notes of 500 euro, the outlet further said. These bank notes were flown to Moscow's Vnukovo airport and deposited in sanctioned Russian banks. The report also said that Assad's relatives were secretly buying assets in Russia during the same period.

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FT said these transactions show the extent Assad's regime went to bypass western sanctions that pushed it out of the financial system.

Assad fled Syria on December 8 following an 11-day rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), after years of civil war sparked by his violent crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011. He is now in Russia.

The war has killed upwards of 500,000 people and displaced more than half the country's population.

Assad has faced criticism from several opposition figures who accuse his regime of looting Syria's wealth and turning to criminal activity to finance the war.

David Schenker, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told FT that the transfers were not surprising.

"The regime would have to bring their money abroad to a safe haven to be able to use it to procure the fine life... for the regime and its inner circle," he said.

Eyad Hamid, senior researcher at the Syrian Legal Development Programme, said that Russia has been a safe haven for Assad's regime for years.

Russia has supported Assad's regime for years, but the relationship deepened when Russian companies became involved in Syria's phosphate supply chain.

And between March 2018 and September 2019, huge cash transfers took place between the two countries, something that was unprecedented till then.

Surprisingly, there is no record that Russian banks received currency notes worth $250 million within two years, the FT report said.

It happened because Assad's and his close associates seized personal control of critical parts of the devastated economy of war-torn country.

Assad and his aides also made money from international drug trafficking and fuel smuggling, the outlet said, quoting US officials.