Saudi, Kuwaiti nationals with jihadist ties defraud Gulf businessman of $250,000 in Damascus

Saudi and Kuwaiti nationals with jihadist ties defraud a Gulf businessman of $250,000 in Damascus in the name of the “Syrian state”
  They used a photo with the president, the defense minister, and cryptocurrency wallets

 The source requested that identities not be disclosed due to an anticipated judicial process.

Official documents have revealed the involvement of two individuals belonging to a jihadist current – one Saudi and one Kuwaiti – in defrauding a Gulf businessman and his family, and seizing 250,000 US dollars. They did so under the pretext of protecting his real estate and other investments in Syria after the fall of the former regime, using photos with the president and the defense minister in the process.

The documents show that the Saudi (A. Al-Qahtani) and the Kuwaiti (N. Al-Mutairi – Abu Al-Walid Al-Kuwaiti) exploited their jihadist backgrounds to make the investor and his family believe in their ability to protect their properties and other assets, claiming to represent the authority of the “new state.”

Testimonies documented that the accused jihadists received the sums of money in installments. This included an initial payment of 100,000 dollars at the end of April 2025, followed by cash payments inside Damascus totaling 100,000 dollars handed over at various locations, after the investor refused to transfer the money to crypto wallets.

The two jihadists stipulated the full payment of their accommodation expenses at a luxury hotel in central Damascus for almost an entire year as part of the “protection” costs. The documented bills amounted to 50,000 dollars, fully paid by the victim, in addition to them seizing two of his cars.

  Protecting investments in Syria

Arab and foreign investors in Syria are suffering from networks of fraud and asset seizure that exploit the cover of ideological and religious influence during the transitional phase.
Witness statements confirmed that the accused used ideological and jihadist rhetoric to convince the investor that his properties would be subject to immediate confiscation unless protected by figures endorsed by the “new leadership,” before the payments recently stopped after the victim discovered there was no legal trace of the promises.

Zaman Al-Wasl traced the history of the two individuals and found that they met with several Gulf businessmen who visited Syria, where the extortion method was repeated by creating the illusion that obtaining their approval was necessary to facilitate investments. Sources confirmed that they are not affiliated with any official government body but are considered former jihadist leaders. Zaman Al-Wasl has handed the documents over to an official Syrian body.

  The most dangerous aspect of the case

The danger lies in two main points that reveal the extent of infiltration at the current stage:

• The dual identity of the Kuwaiti jihadist: The Kuwaiti accused holds a Syrian passport under a different name, claiming to be born in Deir ez-Zor, which casts a shadow over the reliability of national official documents and opens a wide door for questioning a document the president is personally working to give international weight.
• Undermining the state: The control of jihadist elements and brokers over vital projects shrinks the role of the state in front of heavyweight investors and threatens the flow of Gulf capital to an exhausted country, especially as these individuals use crypto wallets outside Syria, amid ambiguity surrounding their true legal status and whether they are on arrest lists in their home countries (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia) or on US and European sanctions lists.

📌 A message to the president
Mr. President,
Zaman Al-Wasl’s documents reveal extortion and fraud operations led by incoming jihadist brokers against Gulf investors in Damascus, exploiting the slogans of the “new state” to plunder hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, and transferring them through crypto wallets outside the country.

Leaving these networks to tamper with the economic file strikes at the credibility of the state in its infancy, suffocates the flow of Gulf capital to an exhausted country, and directly threatens the livelihood of Syrians and their hope for stability and a decent life.

We appeal to Your Excellency to strike with an iron fist anyone who extorts an investor or touches the livelihood of the Syrian citizen, firmly committed to imposing the rule of law and protecting the national economy at this critical transitional stage, and preventing any attempt to exploit Syrian passports by individuals whose political backgrounds in their home countries are unknown.

🔴 Notice: Zaman Al-Wasl calls on any businessman who has been subjected to extortion operations to contact us to publish and work on their story, via the email below

[email protected]

It also warns against “sheikh” figures claiming affiliation with the Anti-Illicit Gains Commission to carry out fraud and extortion operations. You can contact the commission directly via:
👇
Phone: 00936118055
Email: [email protected]

Hussain al-Shishakli