Mohammed was the brother of
Anisa Makhlouf, who married
Hafez al-Assad in 1957. He initially worked for
Syrian Air, the national flag carrier. After his brother-in-law became president, he made a fortune both by managing government companies and in the private sector, including becoming general manager of the state-owned tobacco company as well as charging foreign companies a 10% commission on imported tobacco. In 1985, he became director of the Real Estate Bank of Syria (REB). He also became a partner in the "Al Furat Petroleum" company, whose shares were distributed among the
Syrian government (65%), and the rest was owned by foreign companies, including
Shell plc. His company obtained services related to oil fields from the Lead Contracting & Trading Company, which was owned by his son-in-law, Ghassan Muhanna. When
Bashar al-Assad became president, his son
Rami inherited his business empire. In August 2011, he became subject to
European Union sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, among individuals with close ties to the Syrian regime during the
Syrian Civil War. He later appealed to the
European General Court (EGC), claiming that the sanctions had violated his privacy and affected his standard of living, but the Council rejected his appeal. In 2015, a leaked document from his
HSBC bank account revealed that he had registered as an agent for
Philip Morris, which owns the
Marlboro brand, and as an exclusive agent for
Mitsubishi Motors and
Coca-Cola. ==Personal life==