Swiss Court Confirms Freeze Order On Syrian Billionaire's Assets - Report

Tom Burroughes

31 October 2017

Financial assets of Syrian billionaire Rami Makhlouf, who is a cousin of President Bashar al-Assad, that are invested in Switzerland will stay frozen after the Federal Court reportedly rejected his appeal against the matter.

The highest court in the Alpine state late last week confirmed an earlier decision by the Federal Administrative Court in June 2015 rejecting Makhlouf’s appeal to unblock a money in his Swiss accounts, the Swissinfo news site said. The size of the money involved is not known.

The Federal Court said that since it had been established with the “highest probability that Makhlouf is close to the Syrian government and that there is a risk of financial support to the Syrian government, it is necessary to prevent sanctions imposed by Switzerland's trading partners being circumvented on Swiss territory".

The report said that since May 2011, Makhlouf has featured on a Swiss Federal Council sanctions list concerning Syria. It states that the businessman provides "financing" and "support" to Assad’s regime.