Spain swoop targets uncle of Syria’s Assad for alleged money laundering

[TomSea]

Middle-East
Spain swoop targets uncle of Syria’s Assad for alleged money laundering
Reuters | Published — Tuesday 4 April 2017

MADRID: Spain’s High Court said on Tuesday it has confiscated millions of euros worth of property owned by an uncle of Syrian president Bashar Assad and his associates as part of a probe into alleged money laundering.

The swoop comes less than a year after Rifaat Assad, an opponent of his nephew’s government, was put under investigation in France for tax fraud and money laundering.

Magistrate Jose de la Mata has ordered the confiscation of holiday homes, car parks, luxury apartments and rural estates in southern Spain worth 691 million euros ($736 million), the High Court said in a statement on its website.

Continued: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1079066/middle-east