President Assad, his British wife and their three adult children have left behind their Syrian palaces and will begin a new life in Russia after being granted asylum by Vladimir Putin.
Asma Al-Assad, a London-born doctor’s daughter who married into the brutal autocratic dynasty, has become accustomed to a life of luxury, with reports that she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on home furnishings and clothes during her husband’s reign of terror.
The US state department estimates that the family are worth $2billion, with their wealth concealed in numerous accounts, shell companies, offshore tax havens and real estate portfolios.
