Start of Recovery of Hidden Assets from Syria Assad Regime Collapse... "Up to 17 Trillion Won Scale"

Recovery of Various Scattered Global Assets Including Real Estate
Very Low Recovery Rate of Hidden Assets from Gaddafi Regime

On the 15th (local time), a photo of President Bashar al-Assad discarded on the ground in the downtown area of Latakia, a port city in northwestern Syria. Photo by AFP and Yonhap News.

As the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria collapses, efforts to recover the overseas hidden assets of the Assad family, which had established a long-term dictatorship for over 50 years, are also intensifying. The U.S. government estimates the Assad family's overseas hidden assets to be around 17 trillion Korean won, consisting of overseas investment real estate, bonds, and other holdings. However, since the hidden assets of the former Libyan Gaddafi regime were also composed of complex nominee accounts, resulting in actual recovery amounts being much smaller than the hidden assets, it is expected to be difficult to recover more assets than anticipated.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 15th (local time), international human rights lawyer groups and the Syrian interim government have begun full-scale asset tracking to recover the Assad family's overseas hidden assets. The Assad family, which ruled Syria dictatorially for 53 years, divided assets under the names of several relatives centered on the family head, President Bashar al-Assad.

According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Department of State, the maximum value of businesses and assets related to the Assad family is estimated at 12 billion dollars (approximately 17 trillion Korean won). The Assad family has accumulated greater wealth using vast hidden assets and has maintained a luxurious lifestyle despite over 70% of the Syrian population falling into extreme poverty following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

So far, the assets recovered from the Assad family are only a very small portion, including real estate worth about 95 million dollars (approximately 136 billion Korean won) held in France. The identified overseas real estate and hidden assets are dispersed not only in France but also in real estate in Switzerland, Russia, Dubai, and accounts moved to tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands.

During the 50 years of dictatorship, the Assad family monopolized major businesses such as banking, media, duty-free shops, aviation, and telecommunications, amassing great wealth. Even after U.S. sanctions intensified, they built numerous factories producing the amphetamine-type drug "Captagon" and monopolized the drug business, selling and distributing drugs throughout the Middle East to fund their rule.

However, since the overseas hidden assets are designed very complexly with nominee accounts, there are concerns that the actual possibility of recovery is not high. WSJ reported, "In the cases of the former Iraqi Hussein regime and Libyan Gaddafi regime, investigators tracked related individuals and shell companies over several years and even filed international lawsuits to investigate hidden assets, but the recovery rate was very low," adding, "In the case of the Gaddafi regime, the hidden assets were estimated to be as much as 54 billion dollars, but the actual recovered assets were around 100 million dollars."