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A 40-year-old Guernsey resident has allegedly helped manage millions in funds looted from Syria by Rifaat al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, according to an investigation published on Monday by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and The Guardian.

Earlier this year, the Guernsey financial regulator issued a £210,000 fine against Ginette Blondel for breaking the small Channel Island’s law through her work with clients, one of which was Rifaat.

The regulator noted the client was "an alleged war criminal" and a "kleptocrat" and that Blondel knew of the serious allegations against the client.

Blondel worked for Rifaat between 2013 and 2020 despite not having a license for regulatory oversight.

Rifaat, referred to by many as the "butcher of Hama" for overseeing the killing, torture and detention of between 10,000 and 40,000 people in 1982, reportedly funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly embezzled from Syrian public funds into Europe.

A 2019 indictment carried out by Spanish prosecutors found that the bulk of Rifaat’s wealth came from a sum of $300 million in Syrian state funds and loans paid to him by his brother Hafez in the 1980s, rather than a gift from Saudi royals which he has long claimed.

Since Blondel was issued with the fine, reports state her online presence has largely been wiped from public view and she started working in Guernsey’s financial services sector in 2000.

Working for Rifaat

According to the Guernsey regulator, the family of Rifaat reportedly comprised 99 percent of her work at a regulated firm, despite Spanish prosecutors also finding that Rifaat had obtained his wealth through many criminal activities, including extortion, threats, smuggling, the plundering of archaeological wealth and drug trafficking.

The Guernsey regulator also found that on 23 October 2015, Blondel received aÌý€1 million payment into her personal bank account to set up a trust company in Guernsey where she later used the sum to make over 150 payments to various third parties.

There was a high chance Blondel was being used to "launder the proceeds of crime, a risk which Ms Blondel has consistently failed to recognise", regulators said.

A spokesperson for the States of Guernsey told TBIJ that Blondel had not been prosecuted yet as it was a serious case and that she was banned from working in the industry.

"As in all criminal matters, for any successful prosecution, an alleged offence must be proven to the high criminal standard. Where, following a full investigation, there is insufficient evidence to proceed, a case will be closed," the spokesperson said.

Amassing property abroad

Since Rifaat was exiled from Syria in 1984 following an attempted coup against his brother Hafez, he has amassed an abundance of lavish and large properties.

Information revealed by authorities states that he and his family own 507 properties with a combined value of around €700 million, equivalent to around £578 million. The properties were located in various areas such as London, France, Gibraltar, Spain’s Costa del Sol and the British Virgin Islands and some were hidden behind the guise of shell companies.

According to the investigation, the properties were owned by companies registered under various directors, from his multiple wives to his sons.

Rifaat has been accused of war crimes by Swiss prosecutors and convicted by a French court in 2020 for embezzling Syrian state funds.

The revelation comes as Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebel groups in Syria earlier this month, ending over five decades of the family’s iron-fist rule on the country.