French prosecutors have called for the uncle of head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad to stand trial on charges of pilfering Syrian state coffers to amass 90 million euros, judicial sources told AFP Thursday.
In a written decision dated March 8, which AFP saw on Thursday, the office of the financial crimes prosecutor called for Rifaat al-Assad, 81, to stand trial for laundering the proceeds of aggravated tax fraud, embezzling Syrian state funds and failing to register French security and cleaning staff.
His legal team firmly rejected the accusations, saying they are based on perfectly erroneous analyses, hasty conclusions and contradictory testimony from longstanding political opponents.
The former Syrian vice-president left Syria in 1984 after mounting a failed coup against his brother Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who led Syria from 1971 to 2000.
After he arrived in Europe, his lavish lifestyle, four wives and 16 children soon raised eyebrows.
French authorities opened an investigation in April 2014 after two non-governmental anti-graft groups, Sherpa and Transparency International, raised red flags.
His reported French fortune includes two Paris townhouses, one of over 3,000 square meters, as well as a stud farm and chateau near the French capital, and 7,300 square meters of office space in Lyon.
Most of this was acquired in the 1980s through offshore companies in Panama, Curacao, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
He and his family also own over 500 properties in Spain. These were seized by authorities in 2017.
Investigators suspect the “illegal enrichment of Assad," of which he strongly rejects, condemning political accusations to prevent his return to Syria.
His legal team issued documents to justify donations of about $25 million between 1984 and 2010, yet they are still insufficient evidence.
