SANCTIONED SYRIAN LEADERS, ASSAD RELATIVES AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS FLEE TO BEIRUT, WITH HEZBOLLAH ASSISTANCE, POSING INCREASED RISK FOR COMPLIANCE

Like Nazi leaders deserting Germany in 1945, Lebanese sources report that family members of the deposed Syrian president, together with a rogues' gallery of torturers, senior Syrian leaders and members of Syria's intelligence service, have all fled their country, in fear of retribution by not only the new regime, but the people of Syria, who wish to dispense swift justice for decades of oppression. There are credible reports that many of these bad actors, flush with their "flight capital," in Greenbanks of course, are arrogantly staying at some of the five-star hotels in Downtown Beirut.

One source claims that they were assisted by Hezbollah agents in Syria, who provided them with Lebanese license plates for their automobiles, so that they could blend in with legitimate traffic, and escape detection at the frontier and while in transit.

Compliance officers in not only the Middle East, but in the EU as well should expect some of them to pose as Lebanese, and using identification showing them as such, attempting to relocate, and open bank accounts with whatever wealth they managed to escape with. I would not want to be a compliance officer in Beirut in 2025, as they may find themselves forced to accept possibly sanctioned Syrians as Lebanese, and provide banking services, due to internal corruption at their bank, Hezbollah direct pressure, or just plain greed and avarice. Yesterday, I was a sanctioned Syrian, but today I am just a normal Lebanese national.

 fugitive Syrian intelligence officer hiding in Beirut

EU compliance officers had better staff their international New Accounts division with Arabic speakers who can tell the difference between Lebanese and Syrian accents, because all the identification in the world cannot change regional linguistic differences. People attempting to conceal the fact that they come from a country that was a State Sponsor of Terrorism cannot immediately refrain from the use of slang that is peculiar to their place of origin. Watch those new prospective "Lebanese" clients anxious to open a new account during the next two months."Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream." Gilbert & Sullivan's wisdom should be the compliance industry's motto and watchword.