Where is Bashar Assad's money? An international hunt for the deposed ruling family's assets is on

Syria's [ex]dictator is thought to have taken billions out of the Syrian economy — money the devastated country desperately needs. Experts say Assad likely prepared his escape for years, hiding masses of cash and assets.

Days after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, an international hunt for the deposed ruling family's assets is on.

SOURCE = WSJ's "The Hunt for the Assad Dynasty’s Missing Billions Begins" (free to read): https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/the-hunt-for-the-assad-dynastys-missing-billions-begins-715e7052?st=wB4sRP&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

It has been reported:-

• The extended Assad-Makhlouf clan's total wealth could amount to as much as $120bn in both known and, for the large part, hidden assets.  
• Bashar al-Assad's maternal cousin, Rami Makhlouf alone, sidelined in 2019-2020 for the benefit of the president's wife Asma, had a net worth estimated at between $5bn and $10bn.
• Trade in captagon, a synthetic mass-produced drug known as "the poor man's cocaine" and widely popular across the Middle East with smuggling networks extending into Europe, had until recently been overseen by Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher. According to a regional think tank analysis, it brought in annually up to $2.5bn on average in illicit revenue in 2020-2022.
• In 2018-2019, Syria's central bank sent some $250mn worth of planeloads of cash to Moscow, where the money was parked at little-known banks. One was under US sanctions, and the other was controlled by Rosoboronexport, the Russian state arms export company.
• According to earlier reporting, the Makhloufs bought prime real estate properties in Moscow for a total of $40mn between 2013 and 2019.

Several major publications have issued stories this week (see links below) painting a picture of a sprawling family-run business empire extending beyond Syria to France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Romania, Russia, the UAE, the UK, and the Caribbean.

Sources

• DW's "Syria: Where is Bashar Assad's money?"  https://www.dw.com/en/syria-where-is-bashar-assads-money/a-71071087
• FT's "Assad dispatched $250mn of Syria’s cash to Moscow" (free to read):   https://www.ft.com/content/84ef8bdd-d070-431d-90f6-332937911096?accessToken=zwAGKY_bPhzYkdOE74vd0HBDHdOQ9jMpN5EQlg.MEYCIQCmSHkSIdTbPKq2s9wnHMQZ5FfSIVilbohyMdlkaaQTRAIhAPvkfH9XlOFbZozbMRkUKfKNBzKEdqWjWWABFOGZXtEp&sharetype=gift&token=cf4bd02e-be4c-4147-9cf5-fb08f2f284f2
• Brookings Institution's "Networked authoritarianism and economic resilience in Syria":https://www.brookings.edu/articles/networked-authoritarianism-and-economic-resilience-in-syria/