Bank Contract Under Scrutiny
Syria's Central Apparatus for Financial Supervision has uncovered financial irregularities in a contract signed by the Real Estate Bank to develop and modernize its banking systems, according to findings made public on 6 August 2026. The audit body referred the contractor and five bank officials to the competent courts.
The contract covered upgrading the bank's hardware and software components and was concluded in 2021, under the former administration. It surfaced only through the supervision body's recent review of the bank's dealings.
Millions in Question
The audit placed the disputed sums at $8.454 million (USD) and 11.313 million in old Syrian pounds (SYP), both tied to the single systems contract. The mix of hard currency and local funds formed the core of the reviewers' concerns.
Investigators found the payments had been settled through cash transfers rather than documented bank channels, a method that departed from the procedures expected for a contract of this size.
How Rules Were Bypassed
The findings listed a chain of procedural breaches. The contract advanced under exceptions granted by the prime minister's office that set aside standard legal procedures, and it went ahead without approval from the bank's board.
Agency authorization steps were left incomplete, and the committees assigned to review the work did not carry out their obligations, according to the audit. Together, the reviewers said, these gaps allowed the contract to proceed without the usual checks.
Referrals and Frozen Assets
The contractor and five bank employees were referred to the courts on charges connected to violating the terms of the contract.
As a precaution, their movable and immovable assets were frozen to secure any sums that may be recovered through the proceedings.
Scrutiny of a Legacy Deal
The case rests on a contract signed in 2021, before the change in administration, and came to light only after the financial-supervision body completed its audit.
The outcome was disclosed on 6 August 2026, when the body forwarded its conclusions to the judiciary to pursue the referred charges.