Reuters: Destination and method through which Bashar al Assad smuggled money, documents and valuables before fleeing
As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al Assad, who had ruled Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to smuggle cash, valuables, and secret documents from the business network that had enabled him to amass his fortune.
According to a Reuters account of the operation based on statements from more than a dozen sources, Yassar Ibrahim, the president’s top economic advisor, arranged the charter of the plane to transport Assad’s valuables, as well as those of his relatives, aides, and presidential palace staff, to the UAE on four flights.
According to US sanctions notices, Syrian economic experts, and a single source within Assad’s business network, Ibrahim, who served as director of the presidential financial and economic office, was instrumental in establishing a network of entities that Assad used to control broad sectors of the Syrian economy and often served as a front for the former president.
Western countries-imposed sanctions on Assad following his suppression of pro-democracy protests in 2011, and then imposed sanctions on Ibrahim for aiding the regime.
According to a Reuters review of flight tracking records, the Embraer Legacy 600 made four consecutive flights to Syria within 48 hours of the regime’s fall.
The aircraft, bearing the identification number C5-SKY, is registered in Gambia.
The fourth flight departed on December 8 from the Russian-operated Hmeimim air base near Latakia on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to flight tracking records, satellite imagery, and a former air force intelligence source with direct knowledge of the operation, as Assad fled to Russia the same day from the same base.
The process of removing Assad’s assets from Syria hasn’t been previously reported.
Reuters spoke with 14 Syrian sources familiar with the plan, including airport employees, former intelligence and Republican Guard officers, and a person within Assad’s business network.
Reuters reviewed a WhatsApp conversation between Ibrahim’s associates, flight tracking data, satellite imagery, and company and aircraft ownership records on three continents to piece together its account of how Assad’s closest aide orchestrated the plane’s safe passage.
The plane carried unmarked black suitcases containing at least $500,000 in cash, as well as documents, laptops, and hard drives containing critical intelligence information about the group, the code name Assad and Ibrahim’s aides have used for a complex web of entities spanning telecommunications, banking, real estate, energy, and other businesses, according to a source in Assad’s business network, a former air force intelligence officer, and the WhatsApp conversation.
Assad’s whereabouts during the turbulent final days of his regime remained a secret even from his closest family members.
Assad later obtained political asylum in Russia.
A senior official in the government of new Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa told Reuters that the government is determined to recover public funds transferred abroad before Assad’s fall in order to support the Syrian economy, which is suffering under the weight of sanctions and a currency shortage.
The official confirmed to Reuters that funds were smuggled out of the country before the fall of Assad’s rule, but didn’t explain how.
He stated that authorities are continuing to work to determine the destination of these funds.
Finally, Reuters said that it was unable to independently confirm whether Assad actually oversaw the escape, however, several sources familiar with the operation confirmed that it couldn’t have taken place without Assad’s direct orders and approval.
