Assad’s uncle faces inquiry into vast wealth

SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, suspected of using ill-gotten gains to build a vast property empire, has been placed under investigation for corruption and money-laundering by French prosecutors.

Rifaat al-Assad, 78, a Syrian former vice president, is accused of acquiring millions of pounds’ worth of assets in France illegally. Mr Assad, who served as head of the feared Defence Compa- nies paramilitary unit in the 1970s and 80s, went into exile in Europe after a failed coup against his brother Hafez, Bashar’s father, in 1983. He now lives between France, Spain and Britain.

The inquiry into his finances was launched in 2013 after Sherpa, an activist group representing the victims of financial crime, lodged a complaint which claimed his fortune was stolen during his time in the Syrian regime.

He was placed under formal investigation earlier this month, legal sources said. Rifaat al-Assad said his portfolio, which includes a stud farm and luxury apartments around Europe, was acquired legally. The Assad family has claimed Rifaat’s fortune was the result of gifts from wealthy Saudi supporters.

Mr Assad was once dubbed the “butcher of Hama” over his alleged involvement in a massacre in the western city of Hama in 1982, in which as many as 25,000 people were killed.

He has spent the last three decades between his properties in Paris, Marbella and his £10 million Georgian townhouse in Mayfair.