(Qasioun) - Brothers Rami and Hafez Makhlouf made a fortune exploiting family ties to their maternal first-cousin, Syrian President Bashar Assad, although they may have fallen out of favor in the last two years.For years, any foreign company seeking to do business in Syria had to be cleared by Rami, who controlled key economic sectors such as oil and telecommunications. Hafez, a general in charge of Syria’s intelligence and security apparatus, has been suspected of helping his older brother intimidate business rivals. Both were targets of international sanctions for their roles in Assad’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, although Hafez managed to unfreeze $4 million in Swiss accounts. Hafez lost his security post in 2014 amid rumors of feuding within the regime and is now believed to have fled to Belarus.The Panama Papers are leaks about 11 million documents proving the involvement of politicians, athletes, presidents and business tax evasion and money transfers and bleached.
