PARIS (AP) The Paris prosecutor's office opened an investigation Monday into the real estate holdings of Syrian President Bashar Assad's uncle after watchdogs accused him of corruption.
Transparency International and the French anti-corruption group Sherpa filed a complaint earlier this month, alleging that Rifaat Assad is worth several million euros and that the sum is far beyond what he earned as a Syrian military commander or as the country's vice president. The complaint alleges that this fortune, including several dozen Paris apartments and a luxurious townhouse, must have been built by stealing from Syrian public funds and by abusing his power.
The groups argued that France shouldn't serve as a refuge for ill-gotten gains and called for Rifaat Assad's assets to be frozen so they can't be hidden abroad. Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said a preliminary investigation was opened Monday but that no assets had been frozen. The first step, she said, is to inventory the fortune. Even that might be a difficult task, given Sherpa and Transparency International's claim that much of his holdings are registered under other people's names.
In a 2011 interview, Rifaat Assad told The Associated Press that he had lost all his money in the stock market and lived off the largesse of his 16 children. His son Siwar said at the time that the holdings mostly included real estate but also two TV networks, hotels and a restaurant in Syria.
Siwar told the AP on Monday that his father wasn't worried about the allegations because he was too busy with his work organizing one faction of Syria's opposition. Siwar cast doubt on the allegations, saying that the watchdog groups were just seeking attention, and that his father had filed suit against them alleging false and slanderous denunciations.
