By Sarbast Hassan
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – “Secretive Office” or “Economic Office” is a shadow authority in Syria that imposes heavy taxes and royalties on traders and industrialists who preferred to stay and continue their economic activities to leaving the country.
Chaired by Yassar Ibrahim, the right-hand man of Syria’s first lady, Asma al-Assad, the Office collects information about the traders including their financial status, and then the sum of taxes is defined after al-Assad’s approval.
In August 2020, the U.S. Department of State announced, in a press statement, imposing sanctions on Ibrahim under Executive Order 13894 section 2(a)(i)(D) for his efforts to prevent or obstruct a political solution to the Syrian conflict.
“Using his networks across the Middle East and beyond, Ibrahim has cut corrupt deals that enrich Assad, while Syrians are dying from a lack of food and medicine,” the statement read.
The taxes are collected under different pretexts disguised under several names including reconstruction, fines, … etc. In case the trader refuses to pay, he is arrested and jailed by the so-called al-Khatib Branch, also known as 251 General Intelligence Branch, a US-sanctioned department.
It is worth mentioning that the Office has no legal status. It is known among the population as an intelligence department specialized in imposing royalties on traders and businessmen.
Through the office, Asma al-Assad controls the economy of Syria in a purely security manner. In order to be able to continue their economic activities, the businessmen must pay heavy taxes.
A detailed report published by The Financial Times in April 2023, said Asma’s fingerprints can be detected across multiple sectors of Syria’s economy, including real estate, banking and telecommunications — albeit obscured by shell companies, free zones and offshore accounts owned by close associates.
“She [Asma] now controls some of the key levers in Syria’s battered economy, both as policymaker and profiteer, helping consolidate the family’s grip over a country in bloodied ruin,” the report read.
Those who refuse to pay, face intimidation, arrest, and even the confiscation of their properties. This forced several Aleppian and Damascene traders to flee the country.
After being collected, the money is sent to the Secretive Economic Office in the Presidential Palace where it is handed over to officers directly related to Yassar Ibrahim, a source who refrained from being named for security reasons, said.
Born in Latakia in 1982, Ibrahim owns several facilities and factories in the field of industry, commerce, and tourism. Ibrahim’s father had close ties with Hafez al-Assad, former president of Syria and father of Bashar, Syria’s current president.
The Office has several departments including the financial monitoring that detects the property and income of the traders and the facilities they own. It covertly follows up on the amount of profits and revenue the traders earn. The department is chaired by a colonel called Ali Shalish.
Follow-up department looks into the mission of the financial monitoring department and archives the names of the traders and sends them to the general office.
Finance department determines the sum of the royalty and sends it to the general office.
Security department is in charge of communication between the Presidential Palace and al-Khatib Branch (251 Branch). It is headed by high-ranking officers including major general Ahmad Deeb, colonel Muhammad Ghanem, brigadier general Khalil al-Malla, brigadier general Abdulmun’em Na’saan, colonel Ali Murhej, and Fares Kallas, head of Syria Trust for Development.
In Damascus, the Presidential Palace is the headquarters of the Office. The al-Khatib Branch is the second center, and the headquarters of the General Intelligence Directorate is the third center for the Office. In Aleppo, the General Intelligence Directorate is the Office’s headquarters, and the second center is a villa outside the city center on Damascus highway in the town of Khan al-Assal.
Imposing taxes and royalties come at a time where areas held by the Syrian government witness a state of economic instability and a cessation of commercial transactions.