AMMAN: Sanctions-hit Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf on Sunday said that security forces were arresting employees at his diversified companies in what he said was 鈥渕ounting pressure鈥� on him days after Syrian authorities asked him to pay hefty taxes.
Makhlouf, a maternal cousin of President Bashar Assad and widely considered part of the president鈥檚 inner circle, has a business empire that ranges from telecoms and real estate to construction and oil trading. He played a big role in financing Assad鈥檚 war effort, Western officials have said.
鈥淭oday pressures began in an unacceptable ways and the security forces, in an inhumane way, are arresting our employees,鈥� Makhlouf said in a video.
The security forces did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Addressing Assad in the video, Makhlouf said he had been asked to step down from the companies he runs, including Syriatel, the country鈥檚 main mobile operator and main source of revenue for the sanctions-hit government.
鈥淒id anyone expect the security forces would pounce on Rami Makhlouf鈥檚 companies who were their biggest supporters and their patron during the war?鈥� Makhlouf said.
The billionaire has been under US sanctions since 2008 for what Washington calls public corruption and it has since toughened measures against top businessmen who are close to him.
The European Union has also slapped sanctions on Makhlouf since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, accusing him of bankrolling Assad.
He became a hated figure to many pro-democracy protesters who rose up against corruption and the authoritarian rule of Assad in March 2011.