Operation Assad: the air mission to smuggle the Syrian despot's valuables

By Feras Dalatey, Joanna Plucinska, Reade Levinson, Maha El Dahan

DAMASCUS/LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) -As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Bashar al-Assad, who ruled over Syria with an iron fist for 24 years, used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth.

Yasar Ibrahim, the president's top economic adviser, arranged the leasing of the plane to transport Assad's treasured assets, relatives, aides and presidential palace personnel to the United Arab Emirates aboard four flights, according to an account of the operation pieced together by Reuters from more than a dozen sources.  

Ibrahim, who ran the economic and financial office of the presidency, was instrumental in creating a network of entities Assad used to control swathes of Syria's economy, often acting as a front for the former ruler, according to U.S. sanctions notices, as well as experts on Syria's economy and one source inside Assad's business network. 

Western nations imposed sanctions on Assad following his repression of 2011 pro-democracy protests and later on Ibrahim for assisting the regime.

The Embraer Legacy 600 jet made the four back-to-back trips to Syria in the 48 hours before the regime's fall, according to a Reuters review of flight tracking records. The plane, which has the tail number C5-SKY, is registered in Gambia.

The fourth flight departed on December 8 from the Russian-operated Hmeimim military air base, near Latakia, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, according to flight tracking records, a satellite image and a former Air Force Intelligence source with direct knowledge of the operation. Assad fled to Russia on the same day from the same base.

The operation to extract Assad's assets from Syria has not been previously reported. Reuters spoke to 14 Syrian sources with knowledge of the scheme, including airport staff, former intelligence and Presidential Guard officers and a person within Assad's business network.

The news agency also reviewed a WhatsApp conversation between Ibrahim's associates, flight tracking data, satellite images, and corporate and aviation ownership registers on three continents to assemble its account of how Assad's closest confidant orchestrated safe passage for the plane.

The jet carried unmarked black bags of cash holding at least $500,000 as well as documents, laptops and hard drives with key intelligence about "The Group", the codename Assad and Ibrahim's associates used for the intricate network of entities spanning telecoms, banking, real estate, energy and other activities, according to the individual inside Assad's network, a former Air Force Intelligence officer and the WhatsApp conversation.

Assad, whose whereabouts was kept secret from even close family members in the last frantic days of his regime, has been granted political asylum in Russia. Reuters was unable to reach him or Ibrahim for comment. The foreign ministries of Russia and the UAE didn't respond to questions about the operation. 

The government of new president Ahmed al-Sharaa is determined to recover public funds taken abroad in the run up to Assad's fall, a senior official told Reuters, to support Syria's economy as it labours under sanctions and a currency shortage. 

The official confirmed to Reuters that money was smuggled out of the country before the former ruler's ouster, but did not elaborate how, adding that authorities were still determining where the money went. 

Reuters could not independently determine whether Assad actively directed the escape operation. Several sources with direct knowledge of the mission said it could not have happened without the ruler's blessing.

'YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS PLANE'

On December 6, as rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham marched towards the capital, the 13-seater Embraer jet approached Damascus International Airport.

More than a dozen staff in the camouflage uniforms of Syria's Air Force Intelligence - a main instrument of political repression under Assad - mobilised to guard the Hall of Ceremonies, the airport's VIP section, and its access route, according to six sources with knowledge of the operation. Four of these sources said they were at the scene.

A handful of civilian cars with tinted windows approached the area, three of the people on site said. The cars belonged to the elite Republican Guard, tasked to protect Assad and the Presidential Palace, said two of the people on site - the former intelligence officer and a senior airport official.

The involvement of the Republican Guard meant that "Bashar (al-Assad) gave the orders" relating to the operation, according to a former senior Republican Guard member. The guard answered only to its commander, Assad’s cousin General Talal Makhlouf, or Assad himself, this person added.

The head of airport security, Brigadier-General Ghadeer Ali, told airport staff that Air Force Intelligence personnel would handle the aircraft, according to Mohammed Qairout, head of ground operations with Syrian Air.

"This plane is coming to land and we will deal with it," Qairout recalled being told by Ali. "You have not seen this plane."

Ali, a senior Air Force Intelligence officer, took orders directly from the Presidential Palace, three Syrian airport officials and the former intelligence officer said.

Reuters could not reach Ali for comment.   

FINAL HOURS

The C5-SKY plane flew each time to Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Executive Airport, used by dignitaries and known for its strict privacy, Flightradar24 data show. 

At first, the jet left Dubai on Dec. 6 and landed in Damascus around noon local time (0900 GMT). It then flew to Al Bateen airport and was back in Damascus just after 10 p.m. 

Each time it landed, "cars rushed towards the plane, staying for a short time and then leaving just before the plane took off again," said one of five sources working at the airport.

Ali told Air Force Intelligence staff that Presidential Palace personnel and relatives of Assad - including teenagers - were due to board the first two flights that left Damascus on December 6, which also carried cash, according to the former intelligence officer at the scene.

Reuters could not access a manifest for the four flights to confirm the plane’s passengers or cargo.

The second flight from Damascus also transported paintings and some small sculptures, said the same source.

On Dec. 7, the jet was back in Damascus around 4 p.m. and left for Al Bateen for a third time over an hour later, this time loaded with bags of cash as well as hard drives and electronic devices containing information about Assad's corporate network, according to the intelligence officer and the source inside Assad's business network.

The stored information included financial records, minutes of meetings, ownership of companies, real estate and partnerships, as well as details of cash transfers and offshore companies and accounts, this source said.

This time, vehicles belonging to the UAE embassy in Damascus approached the VIP airport area before the jet took off, said the former intelligence officer, which he said suggested the UAE was aware of the operation. 

DETOUR TO RUSSIAN BASE

Early on December 8, rebel fighters reached Damascus, prompting Assad to flee for his coastal stronghold of Latakia, in coordination with Russian forces. Damascus airport stopped operating.

Shortly after midnight that day, the C5-SKY jet left Al Bateen one last time. After passing over the city of Homs, north of Damascus, at around 3 a.m. local time, the plane dropped off flight tracking coverage for about six hours before reappearing over Homs, headed back to Abu Dhabi, data from Flightradar24 show.

During that window, it landed at the Hmeimim base in the Latakia province, according to the former intelligence officer.

A satellite image taken at 9:11 a.m. by Planet Labs captured the plane on the runway at Hmeimim. Reuters was able to confirm the Embraer jet in the image was C5-SKY based on the size and shape and flight tracking data. The jet was the only private plane flying in and out of Syria between December 6 and December 8, flight tracking data show.    

Aboard the flight from Hmeimim was Ahmed Khalil Khalil, a close associate of Ibrahim active inside Assad's network, according to the Air Force Intelligence officer, the source inside Assad's business empire and the WhatsApp conversation. Khalil is under Western sanctions for supporting the former regime by operating and controlling several businesses in Syria. 

He had reached the Russian base in an Emirati embassy armoured car and was carrying $500,000 in cash, according to the person inside Assad's network and the WhatsApp messages. 

Khalil had withdrawn the money two days earlier from an account with the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB), according to the same sources. 

The person inside Assad's circle said the account belongs to Damascus-based Al-Burj Investments. The company is 50% owned by Ibrahim, according to The Syria Report, an online platform that contains a corporate database compiled by Syria experts which cited 2018 official Syrian records.

Khalil did not respond to a request for comment sent via his Facebook account. SIIB and Al-Burj did not respond to emails seeking comment.

The individual inside Assad’s business circle and a former official at Syria's Air Transport Authority said the Embraer jet was operating under a 'dry lease', in which the owner provides the aircraft, but no crew, pilot, maintenance, ground operations or insurance.

Reuters couldn’t determine who operated the flights.

Ibrahim reached Abu Dhabi on Dec. 11, this person added.

Asked about the plane in an interview with Reuters, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa declined to comment.  

'THE LEBANESE PLANE'

Ibrahim leased the jet from Lebanese businessman Mohamad Wehbe, according to a member of Syria's business elite and the source inside Assad's network. In the WhatsApp conversation the jet was described by one of Ibrahim’s associates as "the Lebanese plane".  

Wehbe owns Flying Airline FZCO, registered as a Dubai Free Zone company, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In April 2024, Mohamad Wehbe posted pictures of C5-SKY on LinkedIn with the caption, "welcome". In January, the businessman wrote in a separate LinkedIn post that the aircraft was for sale.  

The plane was registered in Gambia to a local company, Flying Airline Company, from April 2024. Flight tracking records show that, in the months preceding Assad's fall, the aircraft had flown to Assad's ally Russia, currently under Western aviation sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters was unable to reach the registered contact for Flying Airline Company in Gambia, Sheikh Tijan Jallow.

Flying Airline Co. is 30%-owned by another Lebanese national, Oussama Wehbe, and 70%-owned by Iraqi national Safa Ahmed Saleh, as per Gambian records.

Social media show Mohamad Wehbe has a son named Oussama who also works in the aviation industry. Reuters could not confirm if he is the same man on the Gambian registry.  

Contacted by Reuters, Mohamad Wehbe denied any involvement with the C5-SKY flights in and out of Syria and told Reuters he does not own the plane but merely rents it "sometimes" from a broker, whose name he declined to provide. He did not respond to questions about whether his son was involved.

Oussama Wehbe did not reply to a request for comment. Reuters could not locate Safa Ahmed Saleh. 

(Reporting by Firas Al Daalati in Damascus, Joanna Plucinska and Reade Levinson in London, Maha El Dahan in Dubai; Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Timour Azhari, Samia Nakhoul and Maya Gebeily in Damascus, Robbie Corey-Boulet and Portia Crowe in Dakar, Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Editing by Lisa Jucca)