Syria's Bashar al-Assad's Family Likely Worth $1-2 Billion, US Report Says
NDTV
US State Department's report includes the president Bashar al-Assad's wife, brother, sister, cousins and uncle, most of whom are under US sanctions.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's family is likely worth $1-2 billion, the US State Department said Thursday, despite US-led efforts to isolate him over the brutal war.
In a report required by Congress, the State Department said it could only provide an "inexact estimate" with the Assads believed to hold assets under fictitious names or through opaque property dealings.
"Estimates based on open-source information generally put the Assad family net worth at between $1-2 billion," said the publicly released part of the report, some of which was classified.
Quoting non-governmental and media reports, the State Department said that the Assads run "a complex patronage system including shell companies and corporate facades that serves as a tool for the regime to access financial resources."
