Al Assad sent a plane to Moscow with two tones of dollars and euros?

It took 21 flights to transport the money

According to the Financial Times, former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad sent more than $250 million, or around two tonnes of cash, to Moscow a few years ago. His family has bought at least 20 luxury apartments in the Russian capital and started a Russian Federation business. Senator Grigory Karasin said that such information was necessary for manipulation and suggested that it should be checked first to see if it was true, and activists have already spoken out about using Assad's money to support Russia's intervention in Ukraine^[1].

The former Syrian leader's money was allegedly transported between March 2018 and September 2019 with aircraft loaded with USD 100 and EUR 500 notes. In February 2019, around 20 million euros were sent from Syria to Moscow and 10 million US dollars in May of the same year.

According to an FT source, Syria's foreign currency reserves were "almost zero" in 2018. As a result of the sanctions, the country's central bank has made cash payments to buy wheat from Russia, pay for money printing at Goznak, and cover defense costs. The newspaper added that the Syrian central bank diverted the money to Moscow "at a time when the Syrian dictator was indebted to the Kremlin for military support and his relatives were secretly buying property in Russia".

Syrian opposition and Western countries accuse Assad of plundering the country

The Syrian opposition and Western countries accuse the fugitive President of plundering the country, using the funds to finance the war and for his purposes^[2].

"The Assad regime should have moved its money to a safe place abroad so that it could use it to ensure a peaceful and secure life for its circle of relatives," said David Schenker, who served as US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs from 2019 to 2021.

He added that such transfers were not surprising, as Assad regularly embezzled the country's money to "protect his ill-gotten gains".

Eyad Hamid, Senior Fellow at the Syrian Legal Development Programme, added that Russia has been happy to take hold of Assad's finances for many years, especially after 2011 when sanctions were imposed on Assad.

The FT found that some of Assad's supporters were furious after he fled to Moscow, as they saw this as proof that the politician was only acting in his own interests.

Assad family assets in Russia - at least 20 real estate objects

In 2019, the Financial Times reported that relatives of Assad had bought at least 20 real estate properties in the Russian capital since 2013, including 19 apartments in Moscow City.

In May 2022, the politician's cousin, Iyad Makhlouf, set up a real estate company in the Russian capital, with his brother as co-owner. What was happening in Syria then prevented them from doing business in Europe.

Jamil Qadri, leader of the Syrian opposition's Moscow Platform and secretary of the People's Will party, spoke at the Valdai event at the International Discussion Club about the misappropriation of public funds during Assad's rule^[3].

"The level of looting in the country was very high. Now, with the fall of the Assad regime, the secrets and how the Central Bank of Syria was looted are being revealed. And who stole? The Syrian rulers themselves stole," said Kadri.

Moscow has questioned the veracity of the information about Assad's wealth leaving Syria

Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, in an interview with Lenta.ru, urged caution with such information as it could be directed against Assad and Russia:

"In my opinion, the fact that this was published in the Financial Times is a classic operation of throwing scandalous information into the public domain to manipulate it, to make appropriate assessments, to give appropriate interpretations. We will see everything else later. Let us see how true this information is and let us consider why it has come out now."

Ildar Reziapov, the head of the Russian Veterans public movement, told News.ru that Assad should donate all his money to the Russian special operation (Moscow does not call the intervention in Ukraine a war). At the same time, he doubts that the information the FT provides can be reliable.

"We call on Assad, who has repeatedly supported Russia, supported the intervention, supported the Donbas, to support our country and to divert some of his wealth, even if not to the extent that the FT is talking about, to the needs of the special operation and of the Russian army. Russia has rushed to the aid of the Syrian people in the past, and it is time for Al-Assad to go. Assad should do the same," said Reziapov.

Assad resigned as President of Syria and left the country on 8 December after Syrian armed groups entered Damascus. "Bloomberg wrote that it was the Russian authorities who persuaded Assad to leave Syria and that his escape was organized by Russian intelligence. The former President and his family were subsequently granted asylum in Russia^[4].