Bashar al-Assad’s uncle sentenced to four years in French prison for money laundering
A French court convicted Rifaat al-Assad, 82, of misappropriating Syrian public funds to expand his holdings in Europe.
![664438172 Members of the Spanish Guardia civil stand during a raid targeting assets of the family of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the Puerto Banus marina area of the plush resort of Marbella on April 4, 2017.
The raids, a result of corruption investigation launched in France against Assad's uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, have seen the assets of Rifaat al-Assad and his family in Spain valued at 691 million euros ($736 million), seized.
/ AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2020/06/GettyImages-664438172.jpg/GettyImages-664438172.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=DOiIAWkn)
The uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was sentenced to four years in a French prison after a Paris court found him guilty of money laundering and aggravated tax fraud.
Rifaat al-Assad, 82, was convicted of embezzling Syrian public funds to expand his vast property portfolio in France, where he lives in exile. The court ordered the forfeiture of his estimated $113 million worth of French real estate assets, including two Paris townhouses, a chateau and a number of lavish apartments.