Bashar al-Assad, Syrian President who was recently ousted by Syrian rebels, allegedly airlifted $250 million in cash to Russia during his rule, according to a Financial Times report. Assad is said to have fled to Moscow as rebel forces closed in on Damascus, Syria’s capital.
Assad’s Relationship With Russia
Throughout his presidency, Russia remained a critical ally, providing military support that prolonged Assad’s regime. In return, Assad leveraged this relationship to bypass Western sanctions that isolated Syria from the global financial system.
Reports indicate Assad and his family secretly purchased assets in Russia while Syria’s economy was starved of foreign currency. Between 2018 and 2019, the Assad regime transported nearly two tonnes of cash—consisting of $100 and €500 notes—on flights to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. These funds were deposited in sanctioned Russian banks.
Assad’s relationship with Moscow soon deepened as Russian military advisers bolstered Assad’s war effort and Russian companies became involved in Syria’s valuable phosphate supply chain.
Shipment of Cash Into Russia
Russian trade records from Import Genius, an export data service, show that on May 13 2019, a plane carrying $10mn in $100 bills sent on behalf of Assad’s central bank landed in Moscow’s Vnukovo airport.
In February 2019 the central bank flew in around €20mn in €500 notes. In total there were 21 flights from March 2018 to September 2019 carrying a declared value of over $250mn.
Eyad Hamid, a senior researcher at the Syrian Legal Development Programme, confirmed Russia’s role as a hub for the Assad regime to evade sanctions, particularly given Syria’s isolation from the global banking system due to Western sanctions.
David Schenker, who was US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2019 to 2021, said the Assad regime regularly sent money out of the country for “a combination of securing their ill-gotten gains and Syria’s patrimony abroad”.
“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 stated.
Legacy of Corruption
These revelations add to the growing evidence of financial misconduct during Assad’s regime, which spanned over five decades before its collapse earlier this month.
