Financial Transparency Coalition

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS for short, recently became the world’s wealthiest terrorist organizations. In fact, with an estimated net worth of $2 billion, according to the International Business Times, ISIS may have more cash than the gross domestic product of several small countries including Gibraltar, the Virgin Islands, and Palau. ISIS has achieved this feat in a relatively short time span. Over the last few years, ISIS has made a lot of money in some traditional avenues: mainly through activities like plundering, pillaging, and extortion. ISIS has also gained controlled several...

Officials in Switzerland have opened criminal proceedings against Libyan and Syrian citizens suspected of holding ill-gotten funds in Swiss bank accounts. Suspicious deposits in Swiss banks from the MENA region increased to record levels during the Arab Spring events of 2011, when wealthy citizens hoped to protect assets abroad. However, according to an anti-money laundering agency’s report, much of the laundered money came from top officials. Although the involved Swiss banks have frozen assets that allegedly belong to these officials, neither the agency nor the Swiss government is certain of the laundered money’s origin or sum.

WASHINGTON, DC – A forthcoming report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI) finds Syria lost US$23.6 billion to corruption, crime and tax evasion from 2000-2009, writes GFI Economist Sarah Freitas in a new blog post on the website of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development (financialtransparency.org).

A forthcoming report by Global Financial Integrity finds that Syria lost US$23.6 billion in illicit financial outflows from 2000-2009 Syria's regime, led by President Bashar al-Asad, is on the ropes. Protests began in January, following uprisings across the Arab world, and have continued despite the regime's efforts to stop them.  These actions, according to Reuters, included having the Syrian Navy shell protesters in the city of Latakia, killing 36. Even after the crackdown, Syrian officials have not succeeded in quelling the protests. In a sign that the regime may be failing, the Financial Times reported that...