SANCTIONED SYRIAN OFFICIALS AND SENIOR MILITARY, INCLUDING RIFAAT AL-ASSAD, FLEW TO DUBAI VIA BEIRUT AIRPORT

Rifaat Al-Assad

Compliance officers at EU banks with clients having close relationships with the UAE please note that there are reports that a number of senior officials from the deposed Assad regime in Syria have evaded capture by entering Lebanon, and subsequently flying to Dubai from Hariri Beirut International Airport. Included in conflicting reports is the news that Assad's uncle RIFAAT AL-ASSAD, a sanctioned war criminal, was one of those who manages to escape to the UAE. Other Assad relatives are also believed to have fled Syria through Lebanon. Other officials were allegedly detained at the frontier, and returned to Syria by Lebanese Armed Forces, but this information has not been confirmed. Senior Syrian intelligence officers also are said to have escaped into Lebanon.

Considering the vast amount of wealth that the Assad family accumulated, including profits from narcotics trafficking, one must expect that they intend to transfer some of those illicit funds into EU banks, and therefore a heightened level of due diligence should be observed in early 2025, on any new and significant transfers from the UAE. Any new affluent clients appearing in major European banks, speaking Syrian Arabic, especially the Damascus dialect, should be subject to enhanced due diligence.