Syria’s new government targets pro-Assad businessmen: Reuters

Syria’s new government scrutinizes multibillion-dollar business empires owned by allies of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. 

It has held talks with some of these wealthy figures in what it describes as a campaign to root out corruption and illegal activities.

After taking power in December, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which now governs Syria, pledged to rebuild the country following a brutal 13-year civil war and to dismantle the highly centralized and corrupt economic system dominated by Assad’s loyalists.

To achieve these goals, the executive authority, led by new President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, has formed a committee tasked with analyzing the vast business interests of top Assad-linked businessmen such as Samer Foz and Mohammad Hamsho, three sources told Reuters.

According to correspondence reviewed by Reuters between Syria’s central bank and commercial banks, the new administration issued orders just days after taking control of Damascus to freeze the assets and bank accounts of companies and individuals linked to Assad. It later specifically included those listed under U.S. sanctions.

A government official and two Syrian sources familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity, said that Hamsho and Foz returned to Syria from abroad and met with senior figures from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Damascus in January.

The three sources stated that the two men—widely despised by many ordinary Syrians due to their close ties with Assad—pledged to cooperate with the new leadership’s fact-finding efforts.

The U.S. Treasury Department accuses Foz’s Aman Holding Group of profiting from Syria’s war, with business interests spanning pharmaceuticals, sugar refining, trade, and transportation.

Reuters