How Assad shipped 2 tons of cash from Syria to Russia

The recently overthrown Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has between 2018 and 2019 $250 million in cash moved from Damascus to Moscow. That reported Financial Times (FT) on Sunday evening.

Citing financial data available to the newspaper, the Syrian central bank flew almost 2 tons of $100 and 500 euro bills to Russia. These were then deposited with sanctioned banks, writes FT.

Millions for luxury apartments for the Assad family

The transfers therefore took place at a time when the Assad regime was heavily dependent on Russian military support. Moscow already sent its troops to Syria in 2015 to support Assad’s people in the fight against the rebels.

At the same time, Assad’s relatives bought real estate in Russia, including luxury apartments. How Bloomberg reported on December 11, citing sources close to the Kremlin, that the Russians persuaded Assad to flee to Moscow with his family. This came after it became clear that his regime would fall due to the rapid advance of the rebels.

Securing ill-gotten gains abroad

An expert said that FTthat the money transfers from Damascus to Moscow were evidence of “a combination of securing their ill-gotten gains and Syrian state assets abroad.”

“The regime needed to move the money to safety abroad so that it could allow Assad and his inner circle to live comfortably,” said David Schenker, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2019 to 2021.