The patriarch of one of Syria’s most prominent families, who became known as “Mr. 10 percent” for his alleged corruption, Mohammad Makhlouf was the uncle of President Bashar Al-Assad. His sister’s marriage in 1957 to the future president Hafez Al-Assad paved the way for Makhlouf to build a business empire based on connections to the ruling family.

Makhlouf died in 2020 from COVID-19, but by then his son, Rami, had taken over the family businesses.

Read OCCRP’s investigation into how Credit Suisse served regional elite on the eve of the Arab Spring.