Activities:

Hussam Ahmad al-Katerji is a powerful businessman and member of the Syrian People’s Assembly (Syrian Parliament).

He mediates and brokers deals between the Assad regime, Kurdish militias, and Islamic State.

Al-Katerji, said to be a business associate of Rami Makhlouf (Assad’s nephew under American and EU sanctions), commands an extensive business network through which he has filled the vacuum left by George Haswani.

Al-Katerji’s influential role in Syria has gone mainly undetected in English language open-source material.

However his activity is widely reported on in the Arabic press, with one article even referring to him as “The Godfather of Internal Trade between Assad and Islamic State”.

In light of Katerji’s illicit activity and in the absence of organized Syrian business registries, only one company, B.S. Company Offshore, has linked to Katerji Group.

Beyond Katerji’s involvement with oil smuggling and the delivery of food and supplies documented in this report, he and/or members of his family are also involved in the construction and plastics industries.

Katerji is a central cog in the illegal trade between Assad and ISIS. Through this position, he exploits Syrian suffering and the food crisis by undercutting the prices of local merchants and in periods of shortages, supplying food and goods at exorbitant prices.