Toppled Syrian President Bashar Al Assad flew $250 million in cash to Moscow: Report

According to the report, the denomination of currency notes used in these transactions were $100 bills and €500 bills.

Published on: Dec 16, 2024, 11:23:24 IST

By HT News Desk | Written by Shivam Pratap Singh

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According to a report, ousted Syrian President Bashar Al Assad sent $250 million in cash to Moscow between 2018 and 2019. The transaction was reportedly done in two currencies, the US Dollar and Euro.

FILE - An image of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad covers the facade of a provincial government office in the aftermath of the opposition's takeover of Hama, Syria, (AP)

The report, if true, shows the financial ties that Assad enjoyed with Russia during the Syrian Civil War. The records showed Syrian Central Bank’s flights to the Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. According to Financial Times, it was there that the cash was deposited in Russian Banks.

Russia was Assad's lifeline ever since the Civil War broke out in Syria in 2011. It was especially true for his regime when the country faced a shortage of foreign currency. The alleged transactions happened between March 2018 to September 2019, the immediate aftermath of Russian Forces helping repel the rebel forces from the gates of Damascus.

According to the report, the denomination of currency notes used in these transactions were $100 bills and €500 bills. These happened in chunks like $10 million or $20 million in one go.

Bashar Al Assad fled to Moscow after ouster

Earlier this month, the rebel groups, led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, reached the gates of Damascus after launching a lightning offensive against the Bashar Al Assad regime. They had taken over the city of Aleppo a few days before that and began their March towards the capital.

As many as four cities, including Homs, fell in the last 24 hours before the rebels reached Damascus. But Bashar Al Assad was nowhere to be found.

The President who had ruled the country since his father Hafez Al Assad’s death in 2000, and who had clung to power despite the civil war since 2011, had taken an early morning flight out of Syria to Russia.

The Kremlin later confirmed that Assad had been given political asylum in the country.

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