Syria using maze of shell companies to avoid sanctions on Assad regime’s elite

Exclusive: documents seen by the Guardian prove Assad minister's boast that evading financial sanctions has become a Syrian craft'

The Syrian regime is setting up shell companies in a systematic attempt to avoid sanctions, according to official documents obtained by the Guardian.

The documents, not publicly available, detail at least three companies established in Syria on the same day with the explicit purpose of operating as a shell to buy shares and manage other companies.