Final airlift: How Bashar al-Assad smuggled millions and secrets out of Syria

Before fleeing Syria, former President Bashar al-Assad managed to smuggle out a fortune, including $500,000 in cash, invaluable documents, laptops, and hard drives containing sensitive data.

This remarkable escape was uncovered through a network of 14 Syrian officials, sources close to Assad, satellite images, flight tracking, and WhatsApp correspondence.

According to these sources, quoted by Reuters, Assad's trusted economic advisor, Yasser Ibrahim, chartered an Embraer Legacy 600 jet to fly the ex-president’s belongings, family members, and close aides to the United Arab Emirates. Within just 48 hours of the regime’s impending collapse, the jet made four trips to the UAE.

The first two flights, on December 6, saw Assad’s family members leaving Damascus with cash, paintings, and small sculptures. On the third flight, just a day later, the jet departed packed with bags of cash and hard drives filled with highly sensitive data—financial records, meeting notes, company and real estate ownership documents, and details about offshore accounts and money transfers.

By December 8, as rebel forces advanced into the Syrian capital and Damascus Airport closed, Assad had already fled to Latakia. The Embraer made its final journey from Abu Dhabi, flying over Homs before disappearing from radar for six hours. It was later confirmed that it landed at Russia’s Khmeimim Air Base.

Inside the jet was Ahmed Khalil, a key figure in Assad’s network, according to an Air Force Intelligence officer, sources in Assad’s inner circle, and WhatsApp messages. Khalil, who is under Western sanctions for his role in supporting the regime’s operations, had travelled to the Russian base in an armoured car belonging to the UAE embassy. He was carrying $500,000 in cash—funds he had withdrawn two days earlier from the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB), sources revealed. This account belonged to Al-Burj Investments, a company based in Damascus, 50% owned by Ibrahim.

Assad’s exact location was a closely guarded secret, even from his own family. On the same day, December 8, he was granted political asylum in Russia.

Ibrahim, the man behind the chartered flight, rented the jet from Lebanese businessman Mohammad Wehbe, who owns the UAE-based Flying Airline company, registered in a free economic zone. Wehbe later denied any direct involvement with the flight, clarifying that he did not own the plane but sometimes rented it from a broker, whose identity he refused to disclose.

By Tamilla Hasanova